Diplomacy
by Cirrat
Summary: COMPLETE! Rock Lee is definitely a great fighter - but can he do diplomacy? Lee on a long-term mission in Suna, rated for the violence and sexual themes in the later chapters. Contains yaoi themes and spoilers up to the manga chapter 475
1. Chapter 1

_This is a fan-fic that was created for a user on another site as a Xmas gift. Yes, I know I'm late… '=o)_

_Please note, that this fic contains violent fights and some sexual themes in the later chapters and is built around a homosexual relationship. If you have a problem with that, please, leave this story right now._

_Also, this fic may contain spoilers until the Chapter #475 of the manga. Then I start to drift off, so don't be surprised._

_Disclaimer: The only purpose of this fan-fiction is to have some fun and all the characters and the universe of Naruto are the intelectual property of Masashi Kishimoto._

***

A young man was beating a wooden training post. Repeated hits, one after the other, with perfect rhythm and in a high speed. The harsh sunlight of Suna afternoon and the physical effort made him sweat and his green training suit was drenched in some places and covered in sand, dust and light crust of salt in others. His black hair was totally wet too and several strands stuck to his face, the rest slicked back. His labored breathing only accentuated the sharp staccato of his fists connecting with the polished wood, the bandages already stained red. But Lee would not stop. He could not stop. This was his punishment

Exactly like his sensei, Lee also had the tendency to punish himself for a lot of things. For a bet lost, for an expectation failed. Or for a mission failed. His sensei, the great taijutsu expert Maito Gai, explained to him when he was just a kid that if he fails, he should do something to make himself better instead. Failed a mission because he wasn't fast enough? Run thousand laps around the village. Did not perform on training as needed? Do more training. And this time he really needed to get better. Fast.

Most of the time it was fine, they carried out their missions without a problem, but lately Lee started to despair. He felt like he was failing his team and was not good enough for this mission. He kept making mistakes.

Who knew that the subject of youth was so… disliked by Suna civilians? After just a few of his Good Guy poses they started to avoid him and even call him a freak. This didn't show his village in a good light. He tried to be even more diligent and youthful, but that seemed to worsen the things even more.

Like the time he saw that old guy berating Tenten for training his grand-daughter too hard. Lee told him that in her power of youth his teammate had the right to use whatever means necessary to ensure his daughter would become a powerful kunoichi.

The guy frowned at him and replied haughtily that he doesn't wish for his daughter to become one of them freaks and that he'd rather see her settle down and have a family, than to parade around in skimpy disrespectable outfits.

Lee then proceeded to demonstrate on Tenten how useful her outfit was in the battle and explain to the old man that it was an honor for shinobi to serve their village and even die for it.

How he was supposed to know that this was one of the most respected merchants of Sunagakure? True, Neji said something about the scrolls they were supposed to study, but the real way of ninja lied in practice, right? That was the day when the first official complaint against him was filed.

But this was only beginning.

The Green beast of Konoha gritted his teeth and blinked the burning sweat drops out of his eyes. He will continue to train until he could show all the Sand citizens that he does not damage the name of ninja and that he deserves some respect too.

And perhaps his teammates will stop being so angry with him then.

After reaching the count of ten thousand hits, Lee stopped to abuse the training post with his hands and started to kick it savagely. He will not rest, he could not. He had a reputation to uphold.

***

Sabaku no Temari, the older sister of Kazekage and number one Sand kunoichi, turned from her place near the window overlooking the training grounds. She was observing the Leaf ninja training there and she could see his taijutsu was amazing. Although, after the last few weeks she wondered, whether the whole capacity of the man's brain was focused on the martial arts only and nothing was left for thinking.

After several years of cooperation, the hidden villages of Konoha and Suna decided to swap teams. Each of the current teams (means no solitary chuunin or jounin; the ANBU were exception to this as well) of Konoha was supposed to spend three months in Suna, acting like Suna shinobi, learning their customs, carrying out their missions, sparring with their regular ninja, teaching their children and treating their sick. At the same time Sand would send one of their teams to the Leaf. After three months the teams would return to their villages and next two teams would be swapped.

The idea behind this was simple: people fear what they do not understand. And when you understand somebody completely, when you eat with him, sleep next to him, kill by his side, it is hard to think about that person as of an enemy. Also, it would allow greater understanding of general culture of the other village – and because the climate was so different (hot and dry in Suna and humid with changing seasons in Konoha), the shinobi will also expand their abilities to fight and hide in the terrain that would hold them in disadvantage. And finally, it was a blatant show of trust between the two villages, which also told all the other countries that this alliance is strong and prospering.

So far all was going well. The new Team Seven, Sakura, Naruto and Sai, seemed to do wonders in this department.

The blond jinchuuriki tore through the training fields and flashed his smiles left and right, speaking openly about what does it mean, being hunted by Akatsuki and having a demon sealed inside, which greatly improved the public opinion on Gaara too.

Sakura spent a lot of time in the hospital, teaching some of the trickier chakra manipulation processes and, being given access to Chiyo-sama's poisons and notes in exchange for saving Kankuro's life too, she constructed several new poisons and antidotes during her stay.

And Sai, with his sweet smile and uncanny crack for saying the weirdest things in the most polite tone, kept the Elders on their toes and already helped to devise a change or two in the laws that the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara, could recognize as something that will help his village in the near future a lot.

Team Eight, Hinata, Shino and Kiba also made very good impression.

The Hyuuga heiress was great in teaching children and was especially loved by the young kunoichis-to-be.

While there was no such things as gender discrimination amongst the shinobis themselves, the civilian public was strongly patriarchal and a fighting woman was something frown upon.

Hinata, with her soft-spoken words, her impeccable behavior and her high political status, definitely took the wind out of sails of those, who said that a fighting woman is either a whore or an old maid unwanted by men.

Sakura could drive this point home too, but honestly, who would care about what those fools think about kunoichi, when there are so many interesting things to analyze.

Both Shino and Kiba showed another aspect to the Sand shinobi. The bonding with another live being.

Dessert is seemingly bare and dead and so Suna never paid much attention to animals. There weren't much summons and not every species surviving amongst the dunes was interesting for the shinobi to think about deeper cooperation, but after seeing what kikkai, skillfully directed by their master, could do – spying, reconnaissance, attacks – even the smallest creatures were suddenly of interest.

Kiba then helped those, who wished to improve their connection with their partner, just like he had with his nin-ken Akamaru, and trained the shinobi in the art of communication.

When Team 8 was leaving, a regular team for the exchange left with them. As well as five more shinobi, who would continue to train under Kiba's and Shino's supervision with their new summons.

It was the turn of Team Gai: Tenten, Neji and Lee. Technically, they were no longer Team Gai, what with their graduation and their Sensei going on solo missions, leaving the oldest three of the Konoha Twelwe as an independent team, but they still continued to call themselves in this way. When asked about it, they just shrugged and told it simply was so and there was no reason to change it. It stuck with them so much that they appeared under this designation even on the duty roster, and after that there was no getting rid of this name. They didn't mind in the slightest.

Tenten was usually helping to train pre-genin in the Academy and Lee and Neji were mostly left to themselves, spending most of their time going on missions with Suna shinobi.

Temari's younger brother, Kankuro the puppeteer, was now lazing on a sofa with his eyes closed, and recounting all the mess the overzealous visitor managed to create.

Rock Lee so far managed to insult Makimoto, one of the most respected merchants and a close relative to one of the elders, scared several civilians by appearing out of nowhere and shouting his youthful proclamations, upset several of their ANBU by insisting on being his usual… loud self while on a stealth mission, wreaked havoc on their mission room by re-filing all Suna mission scrolls in Konoha's filing order – without telling anybody and of course, without showing anybody the ropes, which forced them to close down the whole place for two days and bring everything back into order.

Granted, the mission scrolls were never so organized before and they've found some really old gems, including their own genin team reports, but still, this was causing more harm than help.

Gaara, the former jinchuuriki and now the Kazekage, the supreme leader of the Sunagakure, sat by his table, his hands folded under his chin, listening closely to his brother's speech. It was without doubt that unless some serious damage control was executed, Lee's behavior could cause the whole shinobi exchange program to be permanently terminated and turn the public opinion slightly hostile towards the allied village.

Kankuro drank a bit of water and came close to the end of his long monologue: "And then I caught this genin team, Cell Twelve, beating their heads against trees. When I asked them what happened, they told me that the green man told them they should punish themselves in order to be greater shinobi. Of course he did not explain to them how he meant it and the guys were on a nice road to concussions by the time I found them."

He sighed and run his hand through his hair, enjoying that he could appear without his usual combat attire and kabuki paint in their house. Suddenly he got an idea and turned to his red-haired brother with a clear look of hope in his eyes, "Say, Gaara, how about you just make him disappear, yunno…" and he squeezed his fist, as Gaara did when activating his sand coffin.

The former jinchuuriki glared at him icily, "No."

"Oh." The puppeteer's face fell disappointed.

Temari smirked and turned back to the window, sometimes she would really appreciate such a simple solution to their problems.

The green-clad form on the ground below continued to attack the post as if holding a grudge.

She really could admire his determination and effort, but frankly, he was getting on her nerves too. She glanced at her brothers again. "Seriously though, we need to handle him somehow. I spoke to Tenten about how they used to calm him down."

Both guys turned to her, one slightly interested, the other even more hopeful than before.

"And?" prompted Kankuro.

The blonde woman sighed, "They didn't. Apparently they just let him run around until he exhausted himself. After Maito Gai running rampant through their village, Lee appeared almost normal by comparison, even to civilians."

The brown-haired shinobi shuddered at the thought of the Green beast of Konoha appearing normal. He purposefully omitted the word "beautiful" from his name too. Seriously, what with the outfit and hairstyle…

Gaara snickered and stood up. "That is all nice, but this technique would not work here. And we need to handle him before he gets somebody to declare war on us. Temari, you are in charge of handling the damage control."

The woman nodded.

Gaara shifted his gaze to his older brother, "Kankuro, you will find a way to stop Lee from creating this chaos and you will explain to him, what is going on."

The puppeteer groaned and hid his face in his hands.

The Kazekage smirked and joined his sister by the window, observing the small green figure.

Apparently Lee was now running laps around the training ground and it was fairly obvious he was limping rather heavily.

Temari shook her head, "I really don't understand why he trains so severely. I mean, he really punishes himself instead of training."

Kankuro's voice came muffled from behind his hands. "I asked Neji after that Cell Twelve incident. Maito Gai told him at some point that failure was unacceptable and so in order to avoid further failure the punishment has to be something that makes him better. Like, being faster, stronger, stuff like that. Maybe he's punishing himself for all the blunders?"

The blonde rolled her eyes, "Well, I'd prefer if he could do some training in etiquette and diplomacy, to be honest." She took her gigantic tessen and strapped it to her back. "I'm going to have a word with the sensei of Cell Twelve about how comes he didn't stop his genin himself."

"Have fun." The brown-haired man still hadn't moved from the couch, nor did he stop hiding his face.

"Come on, Rock Lee can't be that bad," she punched his shoulder on her way out.

The Kazekage continued to stare out of the window.


	2. Chapter 2

_Here's some more of the Diplomacy fic. All the warnings and disclaimers from the first chapter still apply. Thank you for reading :-)_

_***_

Several days passed and all seemed to be fine. The Beautiful green beast of Konoha managed to avoid any more blunders and the desert village slowly settled down again.

Until the moment the Kazekage passed one of the street cafes on his way to his office.

It was totally wrecked, like a bomb just exploded inside, only the scorch marks were missing. Nearly all the furniture was destroyed, the windows were broken and the floor was littered with glass and ceramic shards, some of them lightly rounded and this told him it were smashed cups and glasses. There were holes in the floor itself and puddles of different liquids stained what was left of the boards. Some looked like sake or beer spilled but some were much darker.

The village leader touched a finger to his nose and raised his sense of smell with his chakra.

Yes, there was blood spilled. Not very much, but recently.

Gaara dropped the enhancement, he never relished in the smell of blood, contrary to some popular believes, and stopped one of the men that were clearing the debris. "What happened here?"

The man turned to him with a sour expression on his face, one of his eyes nearly shut under black and swollen bruise. "It was that green freak from Konoha, Kazekage-sama."

"How comes?"

The worker grunted and was reluctant to answer.

The former Jinchuuriki managed to get the whole story out of him eventually.

Apparently, Team Gai was on a mission in an oasis nearby and helped with the constructions there. Some of the workers came into the village with them and invited them for a dinner. All was good, until somebody ordered sake for all.

At first, Lee was reluctant to drink and passed his sake to Tenten.

Gaara nodded. He knew that the kunoichi had some basic medical training and was able to speed up her metabolism and burn the alcohol out of her system much faster than anybody suspected.

The worker who ordered the sake felt insulted that Lee did not want to drink with them, despite all the explanations from the ninja team.

Eventually Lee gave in, "not to insult their new friends," as he said, and drank the whole bottle at once, to much cheering and clapping from the oasis workmen and a silent horror of his own teammates.

Gaara pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He knew that Lee was forbidden to drink and he saw why with his own eyes, when facing Kimimaro.

Alcohol made the taijutsu master even more reckless and lethal fighter and raised his aggressiveness and unpredictability to the top marks, making him very hard to overcome.

Exactly as he expected, it was only matter of time when somebody insulted Lee and the all-out fight started. Neji and Tenten tried to limit their teammate and both had to be treated in the hospital afterwards.

After the Green beast got through them, there was no stopping him and he defeated all the workers – and destroyed the café in the process.

The red-headed man sighed.

It was clear that the fools brought this on themselves, but Lee also should have had more reason and not touch alcohol at all, unless it was a dire emergency.

He shook his head and continued to his office. As he neared the tower itself, he could hear the two raised voices and sighed again. This was definitely not a good morning. When he entered the tower, he was immediately interrogated by his siblings about the incident and gave them all the necessary data, sending them both to handle the situation. He continued to his own office and saw a funny sight in his own antechambers. That is, it would have been funny, had it not caused so much upset.

Very subdued and obviously very hung-over Lee sat at the couch, looking at his feet. His hair was messed, his complexion looked pale, his eyes were bloodshot and he had dark circles under them. His hands slightly trembled and his skin was covered with a thin sheet of unhealthy looking sweat.

His teammates were standing above him, obviously upset with him, both yelling.

Gaara had to admit to himself that he would never expect the Hyuuga prodigy to be so amusing when totally pissed. Nor did he know that the stoic man could shout so loudly. And he certainly didn't expect him to know so many profanities.

Tenten was screeching like a seller on a market and she was beating Lee periodically with some rolled papers.

In her case, Gaara was not surprised by her vocabulary in the slightest – he grew up with Temari, after all, and he knew that once women started to curse, there was no stopping them. And after observing her during training, he knew that the brunette was very aggressive and brutal in her nature.

The taijutsu master flinched anytime their voices got particularly loud or anytime the weapon mistress hit him, but he made no effort to avoid the paper and he even made no attempt to speak.

The Kazekage observed the show for a few minutes, leaning on a doorjamb with his hands folded on his chest and when the trio did not show they realized he was there, he cleared his throat.

Both Tenten and Neji stopped shouting and turned to him, but Lee remained in the same position as he was.

Gaara frowned and walked closer to them.

Tenten started to say something, but fell silent at the wave of his hand.

He stopped in front of the green-clad man. After a while of silence he sighed, "What can you say for yourself, shinobi of Konoha?"

Lee slowly raised his eyes and looked at the red-head.

It was a good thing that Gaara was not used to express emotions in front of others, except for his close friends and family, otherwise he would have flinched at the empty look he got from Lee.

The taijutsu master shrugged. "I don't know, Kazekage-sama. I have failed again. I keep on failing, no matter what I do." His voice was low and hollow, in blatant contrast with his usual behavior. "No matter how much I train, I still fail my team."

Tenten sighed. "Oh, Lee…"

It was obvious she didn't know how bad he felt about it.

Frankly, Gaara didn't expect this either. He felt sorry for the clearly despairing man in front of him, but he had his whole village to attend to and Lee really was creating trouble. He pondered the situation for a while and he got an idea. He looked sternly on the man and spoke in his usual monotonous voice, "Rock Lee, you cannot handle yourself. Under normal circumstances you would be refused the participation in the program, but considering that Konoha had not managed to handle you so far, it would be useless."

Lee's head hung even lower, if possible.

The red-head continued, "You cannot handle yourself, your teammates cannot handle you, our shinobi cannot handle you."

Color started to rise on the other man's complexion, the flood of crimson rising from the exposed bits of chest and over his throat, until he was red as a tomato. His hands clenched and muscles in his cheeks worked.

It was clear to Gaara, that this was how a person looked when truly ashamed. He glanced quickly on the other two ninjas present.

Neji stood rigid and his gaze was cold and hard. He was not looking at his teammates though. It seemed as if he contemplated spot on a floor. His whole posture was locked and tense and he was still breathing rapidly, after all the shouting he did just a short while ago.

Tenten was red as well and looked slightly mortified.

The Kazekage hoped they felt at least a bit ashamed themselves for not being able to handle their teammate. If they took more care about him, he really would not land in this mess. From what his siblings gathered, he understood that the two of them were more training with each other and Lee was fully following their sensei, who was notorious for some strange behavior patterns himself.

Yet, there was a difference between Maito Gai and Rock Lee – the older man was a seasoned ninja and an ex-ANBU, capable of stealth and thinking. Gaara suspected the man made fool of others by presenting himself to them in his usual exuberant and loud way.

Lee on the other hand seemed to be simply made this way and it looked like he really did not think sometimes.

The leader of Suna wondered how the man in front of him did live to be over twenty, with this attitude and all.

He continued with his speech, "Because of the situation between Suna and Konoha, and because you are here to learn something new as well, you will not be returned to your village in shame."

When she heard this, Tenten gasped.

Neji focused on Gaara with an unreadable look.

Lee raised his head slowly again, only this time his eyes were not as empty as before. There was still shame written in his features, he was still blushing and frowning, but there was some kind of hope in his look, as if the kage of the village allied to his offered him a lifeline.

The red-head supposed it was so. He went on, "You will be removed from an active duty though. We cannot have you running around after what happened yesterday. The removal from active roster will be your punishment."

He turned to the two shinobi standing in the room, "Your punishment for not handling your own teammate is to help with the cleaning and reconstruction of the café, which was destroyed yesterday, with no pay at all. Perhaps this will remind you that you are not two in your team, but three. Then you will continue as per duty roster, but without Rock Lee. He will be removed from you for the time being and you can all work out your team dynamics in your free time. Dismissed."

He watched Tenten and Neji leave and then he turned back to Lee. "You will stay at all times by my side, as you need to be under control. During the work time you will assist me and my brother with the administrative tasks and at the meetings you will act as my bodyguard. You will be assigned a room in my house. You are not allowed to leave this tower or the Sabaku house unless I say so or unless your teammates come to pick you up. You will move your belongings from the barracks into my family house right now, you will clean yourself up and return to my office immediately. Understood?"

Lee stood up and nodded, "Yes, Kazekage-sama."

"Good." Gaara made shooing motion with his hand. "Now go and do as you were told."


	3. Chapter 3

_So, the third chapter – and just to add a few details: the characters are in their early twenties. If you are asking me, how comes that Lee could be so obnoxious, believe me that some people don't grow out of it until they are grandparents themselves. On the other hand, a good motivation might cause tremendous change…_

_All the warnings and disclaimers from the first chapter still apply. Reviews are highly appreciated._

_Oh, and just that you know – the whole fic is already complete, so you don't have to worry about the story being dropped (I hate when something like that happens). :-)_

***

Two weeks passed since Gaara removed Lee from his team and nothing bad happened yet. This was good.

Lee sneezed. He sat on the dusty floor of Suna great archive, checking one register after the other.

The Kazekage said he really messed up that thing with the mission room filing system and that he needed to learn that other systems than Konohan exist as well.

At first he did not understand this. He was only trying to help after all, and he did not see how this was bad.

Then Kankuro took him aside and explained to him that just as in fighting, there could be several approaches to anything. He told Lee to imagine several ninja teams and asked him what would happen, if one of the team members would start to introduce some other dynamics than what the rest was used to.

Lee told him that such a team would surely fail, because of the misinterpretations and wrong communication.

The kage's brother then told him to consider what he did with the Suna mission room in these terms.

At first he did not get it, but when it dawned on him, oh brother! Lee still felt uncomfortable when he thought about that moment, that feeling of sinking in his stomach, as if a bottomless pit opened itself right in front of him, and how his face burned with mortification. He tried to apologize, but he was cut short.

It didn't matter, the puppeteer said, as long as he understood what happened. And then he directed him into the big archive to work through during the day, observe the system, learn it, and then replace all incorrectly filed scrolls and folders.

It took him nearly a week to figure out how the scrolls were organized actually, because he knew only Konohan mission-related filing system before, but this archive contained only scrolls and folders related to civilian life.

It was easy to understand that there were diplomatic treaties with other villages in one section, economical records in another, chronicles, marriage scrolls, plans of the whole village, documents on the ownership of the houses, all these had a separate corner.

Chronicles were easy – they were, for the lack of better word, chronological. But, for example, the marriage scrolls were sorted out by year and then filed in the alphabetic order, the plans and ownership documents were sorted out by the order the houses were built in and then filed chronologically. And the economical subjects were by far the most complicated ones.

Kankuro said to learn the system, so that meant Lee had to understand the economical records too, or at least the way they were filed.

So the taijutsu master took several of the folders out, spread them on the floor carefully and in the order the materials in them were organized and spent about three days staring at them and comparing them.

He realized soon that it was simply tracking money and goods, just like shinobi track their targets in the terrain. If there was income logged on one side, the other subject in the deal would have to show the same expense and vice versa. He could track the movement of whole shipments of goods from when they came in on the official Suna market to where they branched into the separate shops and how fast they were sold from those shops.

He even found logs of shinobi-related items: the central storage was issuing uniforms and weapons, supplies, such as explosive tags, soldier pills and ration bars, poisons and antidotes. Some of the logs, especially the poison-antidote ones were signed either by a specific person or by a team designation.

It was amazing for Lee to understand that there was a whole world he never cared about before. As he started to dig through the materials deeper and deeper, he realized he could follow what probably happened at specific time periods.

The wars meant a lot of items were issued from the main storage, but the shops turnover was nearly non-existent. It was surprising to find that during the war years there was also a huge amount of marriage scrolls signed.

Out of curiosity Lee dug out the appropriate chronicles and leafed through them to find some explanation of this phenomenon. Ah, here it was:

"_Ten more couples entered the marriage in the last month. One would say that during this dire time of war people would concentrate on the bare survival only, but it seems that all the gruesome circumstances taught them to enjoy what they have, because tomorrow may never come for them again. Many a woman wants to have a child from her beloved one, if only to have something to remember him by. Lot of clan__ members have babies simply to prevent their extinction, because their heirs may be killed at any moment. The marriage ceremony amongst their friends allows people to celebrate and be happy and forget about their worries and anguish at least for a day. And many of the men fighting want to give their woman at least their name – and ensure that she at least gets some small widow pay should they fall."_

The taijutsu master stopped reading at this point. He was silently glad that he did not live at the time of shinobi wars. The Akatsuki attacks on Konoha or Orochimaru's invasion were more than enough, and what the older people said about the Kyuubi attack was simply devastating. It was good that all these problems came and went relatively fast, not like the Great shinobi wars that lingered and caused much more harm on the feelings of people.

The Beautiful green beast of Konoha straightened his spine and then filed all the items he was perusing properly.

After discovering all the filing systems in the archive, he had no problem anymore to check all the items and re-organize them when necessary. It was good he was trained in speed, because otherwise it would take him much longer than the whole duration of the stay of Team Gai in Suna.

Speaking of Team Gai, Tenten and Neji picked him up at the evening on a second day and they spent several hours talking. All of them got important things off their chest, and at the end their relationship felt much better.

Lee admitted that he often felt left out by the two of them and that this made him sad, for a lack of better word.

This made Tenten squirm and admit in a low voice that she and Neji were lovers for some time.

The green-clad man felt hurt by their need to cover such a thing from him, but he understood their fear that with his usual exuberance he would announce their relationship to the whole world.

Neji in turn said that he had a hard time dealing with Lee's impulsiveness and loudness.

They talked and talked and Lee could feel how things between them were slowly straightening. He realized that he was not listening or observing very often and that he was jumping to conclusions perhaps too fast.

And his teammates found out that he wasn't as dumb as they thought all the time and that he could understand things actually pretty fast – that is if somebody took care and explained the principles to him.

All in all, thought Lee as he filed the last misplaced scrolls and folders away, these two weeks were pretty revealing. It might be strange to say that they learned more during this time than in the previous ten years they used to work together and protect the lives of their teammates with their own, but it was good that it finally happened. And it were the Kazekage's harsh words that made them all see through their assumptions and expectations to the real people behind.

***

After putting the whole archive together, Lee was helping Kankuro and the Kazekage in their office. It was kind of dull, moving papers, filing them, sorting them out for Kankuro, who checked them before submitting them to Gaara, helping the puppeteer to calm down all the people who wanted to see the Kazekage for one reason or another, and, because Lee was Lee, he also made sure that both brothers ate regularly and had some normal food, instead of all the greasy take-outs that usually were their first option.

Kankuro argued with him that they were very good shinobi and had nothing to fear from greasy food and that surely it couldn't harm them after all this time.

Lee calmly replied that sure, Kankuro was right, but there was no need to burden their bodies unnecessarily.

Gaara was smirking at his speechless brother, secretly proud about the way Lee handled the situation. Few more days and they could let him out on the streets again without fear of their population being traumatized by speeches about power of youth and the overly loud green ninja. But sometimes he was sorely tempted to halt any changes the taijutsu master was going through, namely after he found out that the number of people demanding his attention lessened, when the villagers learned that his antechambers were guarded by that "green freak".

Sure, it may be hurtful for Lee, but his work days became much more efficient and much calmer.

The Beautiful green beast of Konoha was eating with the Sand siblings every evening now and while at the beginning he mostly listened and observed, he was adding his insight into their conversations now.

Gaara was surprised to learn how did Lee figure out the filing system and also what else he realized about the archives. It seemed to him now that the taijutsu fighter was so fixed on his forte simply because nobody showed him there might be other subjects worth pursuing before.

It was not unusual to find Lee in their private library long after the dinner perusing one book or another. He seemed to avoid jutsu scrolls, which was understandable, considering that he could not handle his chakra at all, but he seemed to have a penchant for historical and philosophical books.

Although Temari swore she caught him reading some frivolous novel too, laughing every now and then.

It was nearly time for the meeting with the Daimyo's councilor and so Gaara called Lee into his office. "Remember when I told you to act as a bodyguard during any meetings?"

The green-clad man nodded.

"Good," Gaara continued. "We will meet with the councilor of the Land of Wind Daimyo. You will stay silent, no matter what is told. You will not speak, not even when you are spoken to. And you will not act unless it is on my command. Not Kankuro's, not Baki's, only mine. Is it clear?"

Lee nodded again.

Gaara simply stood and walked out of the door, knowing that the Konoha shinobi will follow him without a sound.

Kankuro joined them in the antechambers and the three of them went to the meeting room.

***

Needless to say, the meeting was nearly a disaster. The Daimyo's councilor was a tricky man, looking for anything to be able to complain to the lord about the Kazekage. Like it wasn't enough, that the man already reassigned a lot of their work to Konoha in the past, therefore weakening Suna's position.

Lee was not making the dealings any better. He suddenly seemed to have no self-control at all, jumping to his feet any time the councilor made another thinly veiled insult to Gaara, his family, jinchuuriki, or shinobi and hidden villages in general.

Gaara sighed and rubbed his temples. He could feel the headache building as a result of this afternoon and Lee's rushed actions. He was also very grateful to his brother for finding a solution to the situation, no matter how temporary.

Kankuro recalled what was said about Sakura's and Akasuna no Chiyo's fight with Sasori of the Akatsuki and that the Elder used the Konohan medic as a puppet, and so he was prepared for what was coming inevitably.

After hearing one too many insults against the shinobi world, Lee jumped to his feet, no doubt to start about the springtime of youth and how un-hip the councilor was. But the moment he opened his mouth, he found out that his jaws closed against his will and his body sat right back on his chair behind the Kazekage, as if he had no control over it.

Gaara sensed the commotion behind his back naturally, what shinobi wouldn't… When he turned, he thought at first that they are in some kind of danger.

Lee was sitting, but his face was covered in sweat drops, his face was turning deep shade of purple and all the muscles in his body were straining. That was particularly visible due to his skin-tight overall.

The former jinchuuriki looked around, trying to estimate where the attack came from, when he noticed Kankuro's hand.

His older brother was signaling him in a battle code of Suna with his left hand that everything's all right and that he took care of the situation. His right hand was in a closed fist, his knuckles white with strain and his whole arm jerking slightly.

Gaara recognized this and understood what happened.

Kankuro restrained Lee with his chakra strings and made him shut up. But his shaking hand showed that Lee had really considerable strength, to fight the puppeteer's skills to such an extent.

The redhead allowed himself a slight smirk and signaled to Lee behind his back in Konohan battle code "do not fight, this is Kankuro" and felt the slight scuffling noises behind his back cease.

The rest of the meeting was more or less smooth, the councilor dealing some more insults to try and get a raise from the Kazekage or his entourage, but he got no satisfaction.

Gaara on the other hand made the man to sign a contract that the Wind Daimyo's government deals will be handled by Sunakagure exclusively and only when leaders of Suna agree that they need help from outside, the village will contact their allies. This will stabilize the position of his village remarkably and they will be able to allow themselves some better equipment and maybe some bigger water tanks too.

However, Gaara sighed as he thought about it, this still doesn't solve the problem with Lee.

Kankuro got rid of the Green beast of Konoha by sending him to a hermit living not far from the village borders to learn how to meditate, but the hyperactive chuunin will be back tomorrow.

They needed to create some solution. Fast. Before they all go crazy and Kankuro's strength would be so depleted that he would not be able to react if there would be some real attack on the Kazekage.

Not that Gaara needed the extra protection, but the protocol dictated it and they couldn't afford to stray from it for quite some time yet.

Suddenly there was a familiar booming voice in the antechambers, demanding to see "so modern and hip Kazekage".

Gaara smiled.

Gai was here. Surely there would be some way they could rope the older taijutsu master into helping them deal with his student. After all, any sensei was responsible for his pupil's mistakes too…


	4. Chapter 4

_This time the proper note is __at the bottom of the page. And all the warnings and disclaimers still apply…_

***

The next day Lee dragged his weary feet back to the Sand Siblings' home. Who would have thought that sitting still and thinking of nothing could be so exhausting.

At first it was really annoying, the way the old man would smack him with his cane anytime he moved, but it got easier and easier with time.

Also, Lee recalled Mitarashi-san, a Tokubetsu Jounin, speaking about how taijutsu masters have complete muscle control and can stay in one position for an unlimited time.

Tenten choked when she heard this and both she and Neji casted some weird looks in their sensei's direction, as well as looking on Mitarashi-san suspiciously.

Sure, she did have a strange gleam in her eyes, when she said that and she did sigh contentedly, but Lee assumed that she and Gai sensei simply had a good sparring match.

He still wondered why Tenten spat out her coffee and Neji coughed, when he told them this.

Whatever. If staying still for long periods of time would help him to become better at taijutsu, then this is what he would include in his training. Thinking of nothing was a bit more complicated, but it helped when the old man told him to imagine a flower in his mind, a bud waiting to bloom and watch it unravel and blossom slowly.

Lee smiled tiredly. He imagined a lotus flower, he liked them the best, what with his two best techniques called after them. It was sort of calming too, because he had to concentrate on the mental image, instead of wallowing in guilt of failing his friend and the Kazekage once again.

The black-haired man dragged himself to his room and went to the bathroom to refresh himself. After a good scrub and change of clothes he went down to the kitchen to find something to eat. He knew it was well after dinner time and he didn't expect anybody to be in there, but he was mistaken.

A tall man with black hair styled in the bowl cut, dressed in a green spandex suit and wearing orange leg warmers was sitting by the table, conversing with Sabaku no Temari, the wind mistress.

Lee's eyes shone with happiness. His sensei was here! "Gai-sensei," he called enthusiastically, missing Temari's flinch.

The older man turned to him and acknowledged him with a nod of his head. "Good evening, Lee. Please, take a seat. We have something to talk about."

Temari stood up, "All right, so I will leave you two to deal with the situation. I thank you again, Gai-san, for your help."

The older shinobi simply chuckled, "Ah, it's not a problem, Temari-san. In fact, it is also my fault, for neglecting this too long. I guess I simply hoped it would solve itself, but this is where I was wrong." He got up to his feet as well and took one of his Good Guy poses, with the sunset shining behind his back and sea gulls cawing nearby.

Temari shuddered, her smile turning a bit strained and she left hastily, not really looking at the young man standing near the table.

Both men sat down again, Gai took back the same chair he sat on previously and Lee sitting on Temari's seat.

The sensei looked on his hands for a while, before he took a deep breath and looked at his former charge. "Lee, why it is, that I hear from the Kazekage-sama, that you are causing problems?"

The young man looked at the table, not daring to look at his sensei directly, and shrugged. "I don't know, sensei. No matter how hard I train, there is always something I seem to be lacking. I don't seem to be worthy enough."

Maito Gai frowned and laced his fingers on the table. "How do you train?"

Lee concentrated on his master's hands, calloused from many hits and trainings, singed a bit – a sign that he was sparring with his eternal rival, the Copy Cat Ninja, recently. His voice lower than usual when he spoke, he responded, "I do the basic training, sensei. I train my body as you have showed me, and Kankuro-san took me to learn meditations recently as well." The next question caught him unprepared.

"Do you think that such training is appropriate for the area you have problems with?" Gai's voice was cold and stern.

Lee raised his eyes to look at his sensei in confusion. "I don't understand."

"Lee-kun, do you have problems with your physical reactions?" The older taijutsu master was looking on him sternly.

The young man cocked his head and thought about the question. Sure, sometimes it seemed as if his body reacted without him really wanting it, like the last time during the meeting, but that was not really something that had to do with body, right? He voiced his thoughts, "Sometimes I act before I think, sensei. I think that this is a matter of reactions…" Understanding dawned on him at that moment. "Oh…"

"'Oh' indeed," Maito Gai chuckled. "So, what is the area you have problems with, actually?"

Lee diverted his eyes to the floor and felt his face turning hot again. The answer was so simple and he overlooked it the entire time. "I need to learn to estimate the situation better, Gai-sensei. I need to think before I act." He looked at the older man, hoping he finally got something right.

His teacher nodded.

The young taijutsu master thought about the situation present for a while and then voiced that one doubt that was gnawing at his mind. "Gai-sensei, would not thinking about the situation slow me down in a battle?"

The older shinobi looked at him for a while with an unreadable expression. "Lee-kun, does a fighting situation require some kind of evaluation from you?"

Lee frowned. "Well, I need to know the tactics and estimate where the enemy is, but that is the battle strategy…" His voice trailed off and he contemplated his own question for a while, before continuing. "Sure, every situation requires some kind of estimation, battle or not. But I am already quite proficient in evaluating a battle situation. What I need to learn now, is to estimate all the other situations. Right?" He looked hopefully at his sensei.

Maito Gai nodded again, his expression softening. "Do you know how to go about it?"

Lee shrugged. "Studying the matter in library scrolls and then observing some situations. Gaara-kun made me his and Kankuro-san's assistant, so I can observe them, for example." He slowed, recalling the last incident again. "But, Gai-sensei, I do not understand one thing. There was a meeting with a man from the Daimyo's court yesterday and all the man did was insulting shinobi and the Kazekage. Yet Kankuro-san prevented me from putting that man in his place. Why it is so?"

His sensei sighed. "Lee-kun, what do you know about the politics?"

"Well, it is a system used to run the countries and villages. The laws, the international relations…" The young man shrugged again.

The older taijutsu master sighed again and laced his fingers together once more, leaning on his elbows. "So, you know about the alliance between Suna and Konoha, right?" He waited for his student to nod and continued. "Before that Suna participated in the invasion, do you remember?"

Lee nodded again. How could he forget? It was during his first chuunin exam and Gaara caused him extensive injuries, making him undergo a dangerous operation to be able to continue as a shinobi. Later he and Gaara became friends though, thanks to Naruto. There were no hard feeling between them now, and most of the shinobi appreciated having an ally too, though there were some that were still bitter about the invasion, like Uzuki-san, the sword mistress.

She was close to Gekko Hayate, who was the first casualty in the invasion. Somebody from the Sand killed him, probably because he overheard something. She swore revenge and yet she would never be able to fulfill that promise, because she couldn't kill one of the allied ninjas, even if she would learn who killed Gekko-san.

Lee voiced his thoughts on this matter to Gai-sensei.

The older man nodded. "This is called diplomacy, Lee-kun. Sometimes there is a matter of personal honor, which, if followed, could destroy whole teams, villages or nations. This is why the leaders are chosen very carefully and this is why a good leader has to think in the terms of the whole team or village and set his personal preferences aside."

Lee followed him, but frowned uncertainly. "But what if somebody demeans the whole village or nation? Surely it is a good thing to defend them then?"

This time Gai-sensei rolled his eyes.

The young man shuddered. This gesture really did not fit the older shinobi.

Maito Gai looked at him again and continued. "It may look like it is a good idea, but what would happen, if for example Kazekage-sama blew up into that man's face? The Wind Daimyo would redirect his contracts again and the whole village would have nothing to eat. The civilians and merchants are not interested in what somebody up there says about them, well, not much, anyhow. What they are interested in, is whether or not they can earn enough to eat and have a place to live in and whether or not their children live in peace and comfort, not war or poverty. This is what any Kage concentrates upon and this is why they have to be really diplomatic."

"Oh…" This was kind of complicated for Lee and he said so.

His sensei chuckled again, "Well, that's one reason more for you to learn about politics and diplomacy, starting tomorrow. I will ask Kazekage-sama to arrange some help for you, but I expect you to learn and master these subjects just as you learned and mastered your taijutsu. Don't let me down, Lee-kun."

The younger taijutsu master nodded vigorously, relieved that he got to the root of his problems and there was something he could do about it.

The older shinobi stood up and stretched his back. "So, this is where I leave you. I have to continue on my mission early in the morning and I need some rest too. Good night, Lee. I count on you." With these words he left, leaving Lee in the kitchen.

He stared for a while after his sensei, and then turned to the fridge, to find something to eat. Tomorrow he will start learning about diplomacy and continue on his meditation training.

***

Lee hummed and sorted the scrolls for the Kazekage. He was working more independently now. He learned a lot in the last two weeks and he understood the meetings and dealings with the dignitaries much better now.

The meditations helped a lot, actually. Whenever he had the feeling that sitting at the meetings would make him explode, he used this technique to calm himself again and then he resumed his observations. It helped him a lot to stay silent and later, after the meetings were over, he was going over them with Gaara – or sometimes with Neji.

The Hyuuga prodigy knew a lot about different clans, being from one of the most prominent Konoha clans himself, and he told Lee about his own clan as well as about Yamanakas, Naras, Aburames and Akimichi. They did not talk about the Uchiha clan. After all, with Itachi succumbing to his illness and Madara being defeated by Sasuke in a suicidal move, the only Sharingan wielder alive was Hatake-san, the Copy Cat Ninja and Gai-sensei's eternal rival.

Neji was surprised at first, when Lee approached him about some international issue between the Grass and Wind countries, but explained the possible backgrounds to him all the same, glad that his loud and reckless teammate started to use his brain as well.

The taijutsu user finished sorting the documents that arrived into Gaara's post today and looked into the pile on Kankuro's table, to verify that nothing was misplaced.

The puppeteer was away on a mission and Temari left to the Kusagakure, to establish an alliance with the Grass village, same as the Leaf village already had. It was a sign of trust that they left him running Gaara's office alone, especially after all the past blunders, but Gaara had insisted.

And after few tasks and meetings where Lee flawlessly performed, means he kept his trap shut in Kankuro's words, and actually managed to point out some interesting facts in the discussions afterwards, the older siblings calmed down and the deal was set.

Lee was still training vigorously his taijutsu moves and dedicated at least one or two hours a day to the meditation techniques the old hermit had shown him, but he found out that the diplomatic issues and dealings interested him greatly. It was one thing to fight all out for his village and friends, but knowing why he fought in the first place was both encouraging and anticlimatic at the same time. The young shinobi haven't suspected that money played such a big role in leading a country or a village, but it was simply like that.

Gai-sensei was right.

Lee sighed and gathered all the scrolls and messages that required Gaara's immediate attention and knocked on the Kazekage's door. He paused slightly and entered at his friend's voice.

Gaara was sitting at his table, going through some old files and frowning. His left hand was pinching the bridge of his nose, a frequent gesture indicating that the young Kazekage was suffering from another of his migraines. Not even the extraction of Shukkaku seemed to calm them, but now he could at least get some sleep. The red head raised his head and looked at his temporary assistant. "What is it?"

"There are some scrolls that need you looking at them now, Gaara-sama. An urgent message from your sister…"

Gaara interrupted him in his usual monotonous voice, "Lee, how many times have I told you that I don't want my friends to call me by some honorific?"

"Oh..." Lee hesitated for a moment, then smiled. "Alright, Gaara. So, again, this message is from your sister, these two scrolls are from Tsunade-sama and the rest is from the council. Except for this one, this came from Kankuro-san just a few minutes ago." He stood back and let the young Kazekage go through the scrolls briefly.

It was clear that the red haired man had not enough rest lately. The bruises under his eyes were nearly as dark as when he could not sleep because of the one-tailed demon sealed within him, his shoulders were hunched a bit and even his robes looked crumpled.

When Lee thought about it, he hadn't seen Gaara at his home for several days, but he assumed that the village leader simply came home later and slept later into the morning, whereas Lee always left early to do his training. Now he was not so sure anymore. "Hey, Gaara."

The other man raised his head wearily.

"Have you eaten something today? Anything at all?"

The hesitation on the Kazekage's face was an answer in itself and in the next moment Lee found himself dragging his friend from behind the table and out of the office.

Gaara followed him calmly, but he asked, "And what do you think you are doing now, Lee? I thought that you got rid of your impulsive behavior already."

"Getting you out of the office, Kazekage-sama," Lee replied cheerfully, fully aware of Gaara's scowl at the title.

"Am I in any danger in my office, shinobi?" The leader's voice was ice cold, but he still followed the Konohan ninja and had yet to claim his arm back from the other's grasp.

"Why, yes, Kazekage-sama. In a big danger." Lee continued to grin over his shoulder and side-stepped a messenger chuunin dashing from around the corner to avoid a collision.

"And what is that danger, pray tell?" Despite his raised eyebrow and cold voice, Gaara was intrigued. Everybody called this man too simple to understand jokes and irony, but it was clear now that they were wrong all that time.

"Well, it's the big eh, of course." Lee threw another smile back and then looked back to his front, to avoid any and all obstacles, still dragging the red-head behind him.

Now, this answer was so ridiculous, Gaara simply had to laugh. He had no idea what an 'eh' was, but this was much more fun than being closed in the office with all that paperwork. "So where are we going, my faithful shinobi?"

Lee suddenly stopped, let go of Gaara's arm and struck one of his Good guy poses. Brilliant fireworks went off in the background, explosions and colors and all, while he said smugly, "We are going to get you some lunch and at least two hours out of your office, oh great Kazekage-sama. This is the best way to conquer the dangerous eh!" With the sunlight reflecting on his unnaturally white teeth, fire sparkling in his black eyes and his hair moving in a non-existent wind, Lee posed for a few seconds more, then he grabbed Gaara's arm again and continued to drag him out of the Kazekage tower, leaving corridors full of gaping Sand ninja behind them.

Gaara wasn't sure if it was the effect of Lee's Good guy pose, his own laughter or hearing about the mysterious 'eh' that left his shinobi so dumbstruck, but he found their faces definitely amusing.

Leaning back in his chair after a good lunch, the young Kazekage had to admit he definitely felt better.

Lee dragged him into one of the better restaurants of the town, made him eat a full meal and then ordered some black coffee and desserts, chatting with him about some everyday matters and pointing out several interesting places to go for a lunch or a coffee sometimes.

Gaara sighed almost contentedly and recalled he still had something to ask. "Listen, Lee, but what is that eh you were rescuing me from?"

The green-clad man laughed loudly and shook his head. "It's standing for exhaustion and hunger."

Once again, Gaara could not help but had to laugh with him, noticing how strange looking Lee's eyes actually were and that his hair was starting to outgrow his bowl-shaped haircut. "This is pretty nice nonsense you came up with, but it certainly worked. If you'd just tell me to go and have lunch, I would probably not listen to you."

Lee nodded, "I figured as much. After all, we did not become friends yesterday, oh great and mighty." He snickered at Gaara's scowl again. "And for your information, I did not make it up. That's Tenten's thing. She started to use it on Neji sometimes after the first chuunin exam, because he overworked constantly. Just like you."

Gaara started to protest, but was cut short.

Their coffee and desserts arrived and soon they were talking about Lee's team again.

Suddenly the young Kazekage remembered, what he read in those two scrolls from Konoha earlier. "I just recalled what was in that message from Tsunade-sama."

Lee stopped in the middle of the story he was telling and trained his slightly curious gaze at the red-haired man in front of him.

Gaara sighed and continued, "It is time for the next switch of the teams. Team Gai will be leaving in a week."

"Oh." The young taijutsu master frowned a bit but did not comment on the issue.

But there was more to it. "Tsunade-sama decided that you are to be temporarily stationed in Suna and continue to learn the diplomatic issues. After all, Naruto will need some assistant, when he becomes the Hokage himself."

Lee grinned enthusiastically at the mention of their blond and loud friend, "Dattebayo!" He managed to pull the exact Naruto's voice and style, and soon both young men were laughing again.

After a while Lee calmed down and sipped from his cooling coffee. "This means then that I stay and Tenten and Neji leave? And why?"

The former Jinchuuriki nodded, "Yes, it means exactly that. And I believe that Maito-san mentioned your previous …problems to Tsunade-sama when he returned from that mission." It had nothing to do with his own message he wrote to his counterpart in Konoha, nothing at all. Of course.

***

_Okay, I could not help it, I cannot get rid of the idea of Gai going out with Anko and her terrorizing his students. Blame the __**I've Got You**__ fic from __**DarkAuroran**__ (highly recommended!)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks again to everybody for reading and stuff. All the warnings and disclaimers from the first part still apply, so I hope there's not gonna be some flaming about 'dude, there was a man ogling another man and me no liky'. If you no liky something like that, hit the Back button __now. Seriously._

_The rest of you, guys is totally welcomed and I hope that if you see a point or two where I can get better, you're gonna play nice and point it out for me =o)_

***

Few days later Kankuro returned from his mission in the Land of Earth, only to find that his younger brother and their visitor from Konoha established a new routine.

Everyday some time around lunch, with the exception of meetings, Lee got up from his table, strode into the Kazekage's office only with only a perfunctory knock, shouted something about an 'eh attack' and dragged the village leader out of the tower. They would usually return in one or two hours and continue their work, as if nothing happened.

The first time this mysterious 'eh attack' was announced, Kankuro jumped to his feet, getting his kunai ready with one hand, while unraveling his sealing scroll with the other, ready to draw out his puppet and defend the Kazekage. He learned quickly that it was some kind of standing joke between the two and calmed down.

The next day, when Lee dragged his brother out of his office, he stopped in front of the puppeteer and announced, that Kankuro was suffering from the 'eh' too. Then he grabbed his arm with his other hand and dragged the two Sabaku men down the corridors.

Kankuro tried to struggle a bit, but Lee's grip was too strong and he would have to attack the young taijutsu master in earnest to make him let go. From Gaara's slight frown directed at him behind the back of the enthusiastic young man he understood, that this would definitely not be appreciated by his brother and resigned to his fate, whatever it might be.

He learned that they were going for a lunch and some rest in the hottest time of the day and he found out also what the 'eh' stood for. The older Sand brother had to admit that it was nice to spend the siesta lazing around with a chilled drink or some refreshing tea and it was certainly invigorating enough that the three of them got much more work done at the afternoon.

Since then Kankuro sometimes joined Lee in staging the 'eh attack' and getting the village leader out of his hole.

And sometimes Gaara even emerged from the depths of his office by himself and claimed that it was time for lunch.

The puppeteer had to admit that this was much healthier for his brother. Actually, for all of them. And much better than Lee's lectures on proper diet too.

Temari was still at the Kusagakure, dealing with the Grass ninja, and the rest of Team Gai was already gone, leaving the three men to spar with each other.

They headed to the training grounds again, Kankuro and Lee nagging each other about their fighting styles. These two usually sparred together, because of Gaara's sand techniques.

The Kazekage usually sparred with his sister, both of them being long-range fighters, but today he wanted to try something new. He turned to the taijutsu master. "I want to spar with you today. Let's see if you can get through my sand defense this time."

Lee only nodded and as soon as they reached the training grounds, the young shinobi ran through several basic katas to loosen his muscles and prepare for the fight. "I want some rules, Gaara."

Kankuro looked up in a mild surprise.

His brother did not like getting physical with anybody, and a spar with the taijutsu user was bound to get physical. But on the other hand, the Kazekage allowed the visiting shinobi to drag him around by his arm, and now he agreed to the taijutsu master's rules.

They were simple, actually. No high level ninjutsu and genjutsu, as Lee usually needed a team to counter these, due to his absolute lack of chakra control. Also, they agreed to pull the punches. They have all seen what Gaara's sand may do when not under control and it was definitely better to set some limits than getting patched up afterwards.

Lee on the other side was allowed to take off his leg warmers, but he had to promise he would not use the Reversed Lotus mode.

Kankuro shuddered slightly when he recalled the otherworldly appearance of the young shinobi with his five chakra gates open from the unsuccessful invasion to Konoha and also what kind of injuries he ended up with afterwards. It was a sign of quite some courage that Lee agreed to spar with somebody who had harmed him so gravely.

The puppeteer observed the black-haired man, noting that his spandex suit looked pretty worn now.

Lee finished his warm-ups, took off his leg warmers and placed them carefully under a tree near Kankuro.

Both Sand brothers knew that the leg warmers were actually heavy weights designed to constantly train the young shinobi and help him build up quite some speed. And they saw the holes the weights left in the ground of the arena, when Lee threw them aside during the first chuunin exams.

Gaara stood at one end of the training area, looking totally disinterested. For all his appearance, he might have been at the council meeting, dealing with the village elders.

Lee took a relaxed pose too, as if he was not just challenged by a man who nearly took his dream of becoming a good shinobi away and later became his friend.

Kankuro watched. He blinked – and when he opened his eyes again, all he saw was a green blur heading towards Gaara.

The Kazekage did not even blink when the taijutsu master charged at him at a high speed. He formed a half round shield in front of himself at the last possible moment, so it could not be avoided.

Lee barreled into the compact sand and the force of his blow diverted him to the right. He decided to go with the flow and fell to the ground, aiming for Gaara's ankles with a sweep kick.

The sand user was not expecting such an attack and his sand barrier did not react automatically as it used to when he had Shukkaku sealed within him. Now he had to consciously calculate the actions of the sand and sometimes he forgot that there were different approaches. He was forced to leap into the air to avoid the strike and decided to go on offensive. He molded his chakra and sent a rain of several sand kunai towards the other shinobi.

Lee pushed himself of the ground and went airborne too, deflecting the kunai with open-palmed strikes. He got pretty high for somebody who could not use chakra to enhance their jumps and he did reach Gaara's level and he latched to the Kazekage's robes, dragging him back to the ground with him.

Gaara's eyes widened slightly. He could see through the maneuver: Lee was trying to twist them midair so that the red-head would land first and the taijutsu master could crash into him from above. He aimed a kick at Lee's knee and threw several more sand kunai, creating a distraction and forcing his opponent to abandon his attempts.

Immediately as he felt his plan was disclosed, Lee pushed himself away from the Kazekage and landed on the ground several feet from Gaara rather gracefully. The moment his toes made contact with the firm surface, he charged again and this time he was fast enough to make it close to Gaara before the sand barrier formed again. He grabbed the other's arm and twisted it, trying to force the other man on his knees.

Sand was his saving grace once again. The Kazekage was certainly not expecting Lee to be that fast, but even when his arm was held in an uncomfortable position, he was able to make the slight sand protection on his skin move, becoming less seizable and allowing him to jerk his arm from Lee's hold. It was his turn to try and grab the other man.

Lee danced quickly away from his reach, throwing in some more kicks and punches.

Kankuro only stared. Sure, he knew that Lee was good, after all, he dedicated more than ten years to learning taijutsu and being a shinobi using only this ability out of the three, but to be actually able to even touch Gaara and get behind his defense, Lee's skills had to be definitely phenomenal.

After few moments of dodging Gaara's sand projectiles and trying to get hold of him again, Lee started a very unpredictable motion pattern. He almost looked like drunk, wobbling from side to side, changing his balance unexpectedly and it was totally impossible to estimate, what his next move would be.

Gaara understood that he was looking at the real Suiken here, the real mastery of the Drunken Fist style, but without alcohol clouding Lee's mind, thus making him even more deadly. It was no doubt, that if Lee sparred with some other shinobi, not on the Kage level, the match would have ended soon with his victory. He definitely improved since the first – and only – match they had.

After a long series of unpredictable moves Lee managed to get close enough to the Kazekage to actually trip him and make him fall on the ground.

Kankuro gasped from the sideline. He did not remember anybody actually succeeding in a thing like that, if he didn't count the Uchiha bastard and Naruto. And Naruto was on a Kage level himself now.

Lee grinned down to Gaara's impassive face and extended his hand to help the red-head stand.

Gaara smirked, grabbed Lee's hand firmly and with a kick to his stomach he threw the other shinobi far behind his head, jumping to his feet immediately and calling forth his newest technique, coiling his sand as a whip in his hands.

Sure, it was a little bit flashy and not as fast and brutal as the Sand Coffin for example, but it did a great job in taunting his opponents and was also great for the precise sand control. He could use it as a length of rope, as a real whip, or make it disintegrate at will. Any adversary who would try to get hold of the sand ribbon would get a nasty shock when it would either fall through their hands or start abrading their skin.

And this was exactly what happened.

After the first strike of the whip Lee tried to grab its length instinctively, but suddenly he jumped away from Gaara.

The grains of sand started to circulate and abraded the bandages on his right hand, as well as a part of his sleeve.

Lee looked down to his damaged spandex and then back to Gaara with narrowed eyes. This was really prominent, as his eyes were usually nearly perfectly round. Apparently, the damage done to his favorite piece of clothing was really annoying to him, because all of a sudden he became a blurred green line once more.

Gaara really had only a little time to realize that this time he's not going to manage any kind of barrier, before he felt a strong punch sending him up to the sky. He sensed Lee's body heat directly behind his chest and he realized what happened.

Apparently, Lee went for the Initial Lotus, opening the first of his chakra gates and gaining five times his normal strength, which enhanced his speed greatly. And now he was performing the Shadow of the Dancing Leaf on him – shadowing his flight closely, getting Gaara off any stable footing and basically having him at his mercy.

Gaara smiled. He saw Lee performing this combo on the younger Uchiha in the exam arena, but he was sure Lee forgot that he was not dealing with some usual shinobi.

Calling forth his sand, Gaara performed the Desert suspension technique, which allowed him to float on a cloud of compact sand, and at the same time grasped both Lee's feet in it, ankle deep.

Lee did not waste time trying to avoid the sand trap, but punched lightly the Kazekage in the shoulder, between his shoulder blades, to the both sides of his chest and then feigned a hit to Gaara's stomach. He pulled all his punches, because he was sure he could break his friend's bones with a single hit, but the idea was to train and have fun, not to land each other in the hospital.

Gaara felt the hits connect to his body in a rapid succession, even as he made his sand pay the other shinobi back a bit, but then he lowered them both to the ground.

It was clear that they reached a draw. They would both incapacitate the other with their final blows, had they not limited their effect, but even now they were a sight to behold.

Gaara's jaw started to bruise from the punch that sent him flying and he was sure that the final combo of hits will leave some bruises as well. Nothing was broken apparently but still, he should stop at the hospital on his way home and get rid of that bruise. Hard to work as a Kazekage with a black spot over a half of his face. He turned to look at Lee and actually found himself speechless. It was a good thing that he was never much talkative.

Lee was panting slightly from the exertion, the Initial Lotus drawing on his stamina a bit too much. His hair was disheveled and messy, his skin covered in a light sheen of sweat and his knuckles were bleeding a bit.

Gaara was sure that it was more the scabs from Lee's previous training reopening with the strain, than any impact caused during their sparring match. But what caught his attention the most was Lee's spandex.

Or rather, Lee's missing spandex.

True, the shinobi was decent from the waist down, only the lower hems missing due to his entrapment in the Desert suspension, but from the waist up the green fabric hung from his torso in tatters.

During their fight Gaara did not think about calling the Third eye, an eye created from sand that allowed him to see what was going on from different angles, and he simply sent his sand slashing across his opponent's body in blind.

Apparently, this has torn Lee's spandex beyond repair and also caused slightly bloody welts to appear on his chest. Well defined chest. Well defined and muscular chest.

Gaara felt his mouth going dry.

Happily oblivious to his friend's perusal of his body, Lee plopped to the ground bonelessly and started to complain about his spandex and that this was the last set he had.

The Kazekage heard his brother said something along the line that this was good, at least he would not have to burn them now and that Lee should really find something else to wear, but he did not pay any attention to this. He was too busy staring at his friend.

Suddenly a small stick connected with his head.

Gaara snapped his head and looked around to find out where did the stick come from.

Kankuro sat grinning behind Lee and signaled to him in the battle code "stop drooling".

Gaara glared at his brother.

The puppeteer's grin only became wider at that, as he suggested, "So, guys, you had quite a workout here. How about the onsen?"

The red-head decided that his brother was too tricky for his own good.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hi everybody. :-) All the disclaimers and warnings from the first chapter still apply, whatta surprise!__ I hope you enjoy and some feedback would be really nice :-)_

***

Lee was lazing in the hot water and swapping jokes with Kankuro. His hair was damp from the steam and his face was flushed, both with the physical exertion from opening the first chakra gate and with the hot air surrounding them. The scrapes on his body itched a little, but it was only a mild discomfort and he learned long ago to neglect such things. All his muscles loose and the heat getting to him, he felt like he could fall asleep any moment.

"So, that was really the last of your leotard thingies?" Kankuro's voice was mildly sarcastic.

Lee refused to open his eyes fully to look at him. Despite the popular belief, even he could not be energetic and enthusiastic non-stop. Sometimes he really liked to laze around and right now was one of those moments. He sighed. "Yes, that was the last one. I guess I will have to go shopping for some clothes tomorrow. It would be awfully unyouthfull to walk around half-naked." He yawned.

"Yeah, that wouldn't be fitting to your station in here." Kankuro yawned noisily too and scratched his shoulder idly. With his brown hair plastered to his head and without his kabuki paint he looked much younger but no less intimidating. There was certain hardness to his face and a small sliver of coldness in his eyes that never thawed out, no matter how contented he was. His broad shoulders and visible part of his chest were well muscled and covered in myriads of smaller and bigger scars, evidence of his training and battles.

Lee agreed sleepily, "Yes. Not mentioning the awful sunburn I would probably get. I had enough of that, Kankuro-kun, and I want to avoid repeating that experience as much as possible." He stretched again, feeling a slight pull in his left arm. Tsunade did a good job on fixing his injuries after he was crushed by Gaara's sand, but there were some minor issues he had to learn to live with and compensate for them.

Kankuro remembered the incident and snorted, leaning on the edge of the pool and relaxing as well.

During his first week in Suna Lee decided to take off his spandex suit, to prevent damaging it during his training and the sparring sessions with his teammates. Within several hours he got really bad sunburn and ended up in the hospital. His skin was simply not used to the harsh sunlight in the desert village and he needed to get treatment, because his skin blistered and started to crack down to the meat. The hardest part was to keep Lee in the hospital, because he complained that laying on his belly with an ointment smeared on his back was too unyouthfull and he should go and help with the missions.

It took a punch to his head from Tenten to make him promise that he would stay for the treatment as long as the medi-nins consider necessary.

Kankuro snorted again. He simply thought that Lee had spent so much time in hospitals already that he resented any single minute he had to stay in any kind of medical facility. Speaking about that… The puppeteer opened his eyes to look at the taijutsu master.

Lee was really on the verge of sleep, half-floating in the water. The scars on his body were clearly visible. Some cuts, both shallow and deep, ragged and straight, from his sparring with the weapon mistress on his team. Several burns and what looked like puncture marks, probably where he got stabbed during his missions. His hands and feet, not covered in bandages for once, were one big mass of scars and scabs from his training and fights.

Kankuro shuddered, feeling a slight chill. He simply could not understand how that man could submit himself to such damage on daily basis.

But what really gave him the creeps were the most prominent scars on Lee's body.

Ribbons of shiny pale tissue snaked around his left arm and leg, covering also big part of his torso. They had to be pulling on the surrounding skin constantly.

Lee once admitted that he had to use some hydrating ointments frequently not to tear it when moving.

Kankuro remembered that painful feeling of guilt which stabbed him in the gut when he heard that, even though those scars were not his doing. He still could not wrap his mind around how fast they were accepted and forgiven by the man.

The taijutsu master not only wasn't hostile to the Sand ninjas, and Gaara especially, he seemed unable to hold a grudge.

The puppeteer thought at first that it was simply good manners and civility, but he recognized soon that there were simply no hard feelings to start with. Still, he felt guilty sometimes when looking at Lee.

Even though it was not his idea to invade Konohagakure, he was participating in it. And it was his own brother, who damaged the young shinobi to the extent of nearly losing ability to move and fight forever.

Kankuro sighed and closed his eyes. After a while he could feel a familiar chakra signature approaching. "Took him long enough to get here," he murmured in a low voice.

"Hm?" The shinobi of Konoha was still floating on his back with a look of complete relaxation on his face.

"Gaara. He always takes long. Getting out of his robes, making the sand stay in the gourd… When we were younger, he got almost kicked out several times, because his sand was blocking the drains and getting into the baths. And this time he had to get rid of those bruises as well." The puppeteer sniggered.

"True. Can't have purple-spotted Kazekage in the office," Lee chuckled as well and cracked one eye open, silently cursing his inability to work with chakra. Sure, he didn't miss it most of the time, and he could work around it, alone or with his team, but sometimes the ability would come handy. Like now. At first he saw only the clouds of steam in the room, but after few moments he saw a shock of red emerging from the grey and white background and soon he was able to see Gaara's face.

The Kazekage came slowly to the pool, wearing only a white towel around his hips. He dropped the cloth on a bench and waded into the pool, coming closer to his brother and friend.

Lee observed him with heavy lidded eyes, something about the young leader spiking his interest.

The red-haired man was well-built but lithe, broad shoulders showing his strength, but then his body narrowed to a slim waist and hips, giving him a deceptively fragile look. His skin was pale, except for slightly tanned hands and face, but even those were much lighter than those of an average Suna inhabitant. He lacked any scars, because of his sand protection. His muscles were long and lean, not bulky and not wiry either. With his deep green eyes and black circles around them, caused by the years of insomnia, he looked like something shy and breakable.

But Lee knew that the man was anything but. He wondered idly, why he was so interested in Gaara right now. He had seen the Suna leader in various states of undress many times, he worked with him for several months now and they shared the training grounds often, but this was something new for him. The taijutsu user decided to close his eyes again and just relax. This was not the time for thinking.

Little did he know that he was observed as well.

As Gaara waded closer to the two men already lazing in the hot springs, his eyes were simply attracted to the floating figure.

Lee's eyelids were nearly closed, leaving just a sliver of his expressive eyes visible, his black eyelashes dusting his flushed skin. He tanned considerably during his stay in Suna and it was clearly visible where his usual green spandex ended, because his face and neck was much darker than the rest of his body.

The Kazekage wondered briefly why Lee's hands are not tanned as well, but he remembered that the taijutsu master used heavy bandages to cover them.

Only the tips of fingers were darker than the rest of his body, and not much even. The different scars on his hands and fingers overlapped so much that there was simply not enough left to tan properly. The lighter parts of Lee's skin were still considerably darker than Gaara's own paleness though.

The red-head noticed, that the Leaf shinobi's hair floated around his head in the water, creating a dark halo around his face and making him look serene.

Gaara's attention was drawn towards the massive scars he caused. He talked with his brother about Lee one evening and he had to agree with Kankuro. How did the man ever forgive him was beyond his understanding and yet here they were, relaxing together after a good sparring session.

In fact, Lee was one of the closest people to the Kazekage, including Gaara's family, Naruto and Sakura, after she saved his brother's life. And his, of course.

Gaara was so absorbed in his thoughts, he completely overlooked Kankuro's outstretched legs and tripped over them, falling into the pool face first with a great splash and creating a big wave which hit Lee's face.

The previously so relaxed man shot upright, spat out some water and coughed, "That was very unhip and unyouthfull, Gaara." Water dripped from his hair in thin rivulets down his well-muscled torso.

The completely wet Kazekage tore his eyes from the sight and glared at his brother instead. "Well, if Kankuro hadn't tripped me, I would not disturb you. So how about you tell him, what is youthfull and what is not."

"You should look where you are going on the first place, oh Kazekage-sama," laughed Kankuro. "Seriously, here I am, relaxing, and you decide to go and stomp on my feet. Serves you right, yunno? And where was your mind, actually? You usually don't go on stomping around like that, little brother…" There was a kind of shadenfreudlich glee in the puppeteer's voice. "What have I told you at the training ground, hm?"

Gaara's glare intensified and the red-head frowned.

Lee cocked his head, curiosity sparking in his eyes, "What was it?"

Gaara rolled his eyes and decided to change the issue. "Nothing important." He dove under the surface again, to smooth his hair to the back and out of his eyes and sat down between Lee and Kankuro.

The taijutsu master was looking at him with his big round eyes, still standing in the waist-deep water.

Something in his posture reminded Gaara of a big black dog, friendly and heavy working, but one able to attack viciously on command.

He shook his head a bit, spraying protesting Kankuro in the process and muttering "Serves you right."

When the black-haired man realized he's not going to get and answer, he sighed and lay back down to float in front of the two brothers again.

Kankuro prodded him in the ribs with his foot, "Hey, Lee, why are you actually floating like this and not sitting?"

Lee's hand swatted him. The man was lightning fast, even when relaxing and with his eyes closed. "Because it helps my spine. Some bone fragments got stuck in it and even though Tsunade-sama was able to extract them, I need to get the pressure off of it from time to time. Standing or sitting still makes it compress and after too much of an upright position, it simply starts to hurt. And the training today was pretty taxing for me."

Both brothers frowned. Neither of them expected such an explanation, but it made sense. Unfortunately.

Gaara cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry."

"Hey, nothing to be sorry about." Lee opened his eyes and rolled around in the water, getting hold on the edge of the pool, folding his hands over it and resting his head on his forearms, facing Gaara and Kankuro to his right. "That's the life of ninja. We were enemies and you were under the influence of Shukkaku. I told you already that I would not and could not hold this against you. I guess, if I were on your place at that moment, I would do something similar, so don't feel so bad about it."

There was silence in the room for a while afterwards.

Well, until Kankuro broke it. "Lee?"

"Hm?" The sound of the black-haired man's voice was more of contented purring and it sent shivers down Gaara's spine.

The older of Sand siblings shot a suspicious glare in his brother's direction and continued, "Where did your springtime of youth go? Not that I mind, but it's unusual for you. I don't remember when you gave the last speech with that posing thing of yours, actually. Are you ill or something?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm just tired and springtime of youth needs quite some energy." Lee's voice indicated that he's on the verge of sleep again.

Gaara really liked this tone of the taijutsu master's voice. He imagined falling asleep to such a murmur every evening and he definitely liked this idea. A pinch to his arm from Kankuro made him realize that his chakra was sparking in a very…telling manner. Oh, hell! Fortunately, he knew that Lee could not sense chakra, otherwise he would be in some deep trouble.

He thanked his brother with a nod and asked the sleepy shinobi on his other side. "Aren't you forbidden to use the Lotus techniques just for training anyhow? I thought you took Gai-san's advice much more seriously than this."

Lee looked at him through the bangs that fell in his eyes. "I still need to practice it from time to time. Not the Reverse Lotus, that puts too much strain on the body, but the Initial Lotus is fine. We have a day off tomorrow anyhow, so I can rebuild my stamina. And besides, I couldn't let you win."

Kankuro laughed out loud. "Hey, you are becoming disrespectful, Lee. What did you do with all that polite crap you use so much?"

The Leaf shinobi turned again, supporting his head on the edge of the pool where his hands were before and letting his body float again. "I guess you are rubbing off on me. Or something like that."

Steamy air in the room was full of laughter of the three men, as they enjoyed their free afternoon.


	7. Chapter 7

_I'm very sorry – I forgot to upload yesterday night. I am currently busy with a translation (and let me tell you, translating about German engineering in India is sometimes fun – and sometimes not, especially when the author himself obviously didn't know what he wants to say and added a lot of question marks) and so I just… forgot… Forgive me? Here's the seventh part – and I'll upload the next one in the evening as usually :-)_

_Oh, and in a case you have no idea how to picture Lee with his hair not in a bowl cut, I suggest two things: (1) Google up a pic when Lee was young. Did you know he had this amazing braid of black hair falling at least halfway down his back? I think he could easily rival Neji or Itachi, if he let his hair grow, instead of styling it into his sensei's style (evil thought: hair-rival crack with Lee and Neji?) – (2) Find yourself a pic of Tony Jaa, preferably from the _Ong Bak 2_ movie. Actually, even though Rock Lee is based on Bruce Lee, Tony Jaa looks amazingly like how I always imagined Lee would be. Hey, including the bandages… There are also lots of technique demonstrations on YouTube with him and so it's great if you need to write an action scene too… *hint hint* Go look…_

***

It was morning. Gaara slowly peeled his eyes open and stayed in his bed for a while longer. He really enjoyed the knowledge that today was his day off and there was absolutely nothing to do, except for lazing around.

And maybe another visit to the onsen too. The Kazekage grimaced.

They started to spar regularly together, Lee and the Sand siblings, having an all-out training every week after the last work-day.

It was funny, but Lee was already like a part of the family to them. He lived in their house – granted, at Gaara's command, he worked in the Kazekage office, they ate together, sparred together and spent their free time together. After toning down his loud and unthinking personality, Rock Lee fit into the Sabaku household perfectly.

Lee and Temari ganged up on him during their training yesterday, leaving him with more than his fair share of bruises. The taijutsu fighter was fast enough as it was, even though he did not use the Initial Lotus this time, and with the distraction from his sister, they really got him.

Gaara sat up slowly, wincing at the unusual pain in his muscles, especially his shoulders and back were on fire. His arm and leg muscles were pulled as well, but compared to his back it was only a mild discomfort.

Yes, to top it all, he agreed to a pure taijutsu spar with Lee after they were done beating him up. He really should have realized that picking his first taijutsu match in years with somebody who dedicated himself fully to such kind of fight for years was stupid.

Gaara was stronger than average ninja, extracted Bijuu or not, but he was no match for Lee when it came to sheer strength and flexibility. His respect for the black-haired shinobi topped another notch.

The taijutsu master got him into the defensive in no time, making him try to avoid his hits and kicks. Sometimes he managed to get hold of Gaara long enough to throw the Kazekage to the ground with one lightning fast grip or another and then forced him to admit defeat by getting his arm or leg into some grapple that made it feel like the limb was being torn off slowly. Neat.

They repeated this several times yesterday and even though Gaara lost every time, he still prided himself in the fact that he managed to land some hits on the ever-evasive fighter too. Besides, it felt really good to be able to touch Lee and feel the taijutsu fighter's hands on his own body too. Little bit distracting, but nice. The red-head grinned and tried to stand up, only to grasp one of the bed posts and sucking air in big gulps.

Oh Kami! That hurt!

Limping around and finding some simple robes that did not require some complicated moves to put on, Gaara performed the seals necessary and used the transportation jutsu to land in front of the bath house. Damn him, if he was going to limp through the whole town and let his ninja and civilians in the village see him in such a beaten state. He had a reputation to uphold, after all, a reputation of fierce and unbeatable fighter, especially as after the Shukkaku extraction some of the Elders considered him turning soft and useless.

The Kazekage forced himself to walk into the bathhouse normally, not showing his bruises and pains, and requested his usual private bath. As soon as the doors of the dressing chamber closed behind him, he let out a huff and leaned on the wall, closing his eyes.

"Overdone it yesterday, hm?" The voice was unexpected but familiar.

Gaara opened his eyes and saw Lee covered in soap suds looking at him from the shower, scrubbing himself. He nodded, closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the wall, getting himself ready mentally for the process of getting rid of his clothes and scrubbing first, before he could relax in the hot water of the springs.

There was some splashing and nearly silent footsteps accompanied by a dripping noise. Lee's voice was much nearer now. "Do I need to help you get to the hospital? You don't look that well. I am afraid I was too hard on you after all." The taijutsu master sounded really concerned.

Gaara considered it seriously, but after running a standard chakra check on his body he decided against it. "No," he groaned. "Just help me get in the water. Nothing's torn, I just have really bad muscle fever and my back is killing me."

Lee sighed. "Okay. Can you get out of these robes by yourself or should I help you? And did you go through that relaxing routine I've showed you yesterday?"

The red-head slapped his right hand to his face and opened his eyes. The stretching routine! Now this explained a lot. "I forgot," he admitted. "Could you…" he turned his head to the side, not looking directly at Lee, hesitating, "Could you get my shoes, please? I really don't want to bend right now."

The black-haired man huffed and knelt in front of the Kazekage, undoing the straps of his sandals. "No wonder then. Your muscles are seized now. Come on, a good soak and a massage later will help for sure."

Gaara shook his robes off his shoulders and dropped them in the corner, hissing as he extended his arm. "I am not having some civilian touching me. I don't trust them."

Lee stood up again, crossing his arms on his chest. "I don't think that anybody would wish you any harm after what you have done for the village."

The former jinchuuriki frowned, untying the string of his pants, letting them fall to the ground and stepping out of them. He was glad that he was in such pain, actually.

Lee was standing close, his wet skin shining in the light of lamps in the dressing room, wearing only a towel around his hips.

Gaara tore his eyes from the other's sharply defined abs and decided to look on the tiled floor instead. Not a good idea. He got a good sight of Lee's pronounced thigh and calf muscles and he thanked Kami in his head again for not embarrassing himself in front of his friend by some…physical reaction.

Yes, friend. Lee was his friend. That was it.

He went to the scrubbing stool and tried to reach the soap, groaning again.

"Oh, come on… Just relax and let me do it. The faster you get into the bath, the better." The Leaf shinobi was close to him again and now he started to scrub his back with fast and sure strokes of the soaped washcloth.

Gaara let his eyes close again, not sure if he should be pleased or mortified. He decided to think about something less confusing and recalled Lee's last sentence. "Well, maybe not the shinobi, but there are still too many people in the village that see me as a cold-blooded murderer and nothing else. Don't forget that by sealing Shukkaku in my body I was chosen to be a weapon and I was treated as such since I was a kid." He knew that his voice was getting bitter, but he didn't care at the moment.

"Even Temari and Kankuro were afraid of me. Do you remember the first time we were in Konoha?" He felt Lee's fingers slightly pause and then move to his shoulder and down his right arm, spreading the suds. Of course Lee had to remember.

"I forgot about that," Lee admitted in a soft voice. "I guess I was already used to Naruto when we first met and so I always thought about you as I would think about anybody else. It had to be hard to grow up like that." He finished scrubbing Gaara's other arm and moved to soap up his legs instead.

Gaara sucked up a deep breath at his touch.

Lee's deft fingers slid the washcloth down his thigh and over his calf, to pause at his toes to scrub the foot thoroughly. Even though the touch was very matter-of-fact, it was doing things to the Kazekage's mind, if not his body.

Correction, it was doing things to his body, which was thankfully too exhausted to let it show.

The taijutsu fighter was done with his other leg and leaned forwards to wash Gaara's chest and stomach. He didn't seem to mind helping the other like this and soon he was finished. He picked up a big bucket filled with clean lukewarm water and asked "Ready?"

As soon as the red-haired man nodded, Lee upturned the bucket above his head, washing all the soap away and leaving the other snorting the liquid out of his nose.

The Leaf fighter helped Gaara stand and let him lean on his arm as they walked to the hot pool.

The Suna leader slid into the water and groaned at the pure bliss. He waded to the deep side of the pool and sat on the ledge hidden under water, relaxing.

Lee waded in after him, lay on his stomach and let his head fall on his forearms folded over the edge of the pool. It seemed to be one of his favorite positions.

Gaara didn't mind. As the hot bath started to break away mineral residues which caused the muscle fever in his body, he allowed himself to have a good look at the other's body. Hell, who was he kidding. He liked to ogle Lee's firm muscles on his back and legs. And yes, his buttocks too. The red-head blushed slightly. This whole matter seemed to be getting out of control and he really didn't want to damage his friendship with the taijutsu master or cause an international incident. Yet he couldn't make himself to spend less time with the other man or to send him back to Konoha, even though there was not much of his 'diplomatic training' left. He shifted on the bench and decided to lean back on the edge of the pool and close his eyes, ignoring the matter at the moment.

He woke up with a slight start, understanding that he must have fallen asleep because of the healing process going on in his body. And it also showed him he trusted Lee a lot, to fall asleep around him. Gaara sighed and looked around, to find the other man looking at him with concern in his round black eyes.

"Are you okay?" Lee's hand was still on the red-head's shoulder.

He realized that it was Lee who woke him up. "Yes, I think so. I feel definitely better than before." That was kind of lame, but hopefully he would not have to deal with it. Lee was not the one to pry into personal matters. Like, why he was blushing suddenly. And he was right.

Lee simply nodded and motioned for him to stand up. As they waded out of the pool, he said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Your muscles still need the massage. I understand that you don't want to deal with people you don't trust, and I will respect that. But I learned these techniques as well and I could help you." He glanced at Gaara with an unreadable expression and added, "If you trust me, that is."

The Kazekage stopped for a while, looking back at him, before nodding as well. "Yes, Lee, I do trust you."

The black-haired man smiled and motioned to the bench. "That's good. Now, lie down on your stomach and try to relax as much as possible. This is going to hurt at first, but it will reposition all your muscles and get those residues out of the tissue completely. And it will relax your joints as well." He stepped out of the water and tied a towel around his waist again, but did not bother to dress up.

Gaara sprawled on the warm wooden bench face down and after a while he felt something dripping on his back.

Without waiting for his question, Lee explained, "This is the massage oil I borrowed from the masseuse here while you slept. Thankfully it is unscented. I would not mind some of the nicer smells, like mint or lavender, but ninja are always supposed to use the not perfumed variety, to keep the stealth. Okay, now I will rub it in and then we start." With that his hands touched Gaara's back and began rubbing in long smooth and slow motions up and down his back.

The Suna fighter groaned and closed his eyes, glad to be lying on his belly. His body seemed to be more reaction-prone after the good soak and Lee's hands felt so good on his skin. This was going to be a torture, Gaara was sure.

After few minutes of rubbing strong fingers dug in his shoulder muscles, making him moan in a low voice. It hurt like hell at the beginning, but gradually the tissue loosened and all that was left was a feeling of complete relaxation at the spot. The red-head felt Lee's hands moving to the other shoulder and repeating the process.

The back side of his neck came next and then those strong hands moved down to his hips.

It was clear that the taijutsu master felt the body under his hands tense because he assured Gaara in a low voice that everything was alright and he should just relax.

Gaara found the sound of Lee's baritone slightly hypnotic, and felt his body let go of the tension. The next thing he knew was a feeling of pressure on both sides of his spine moving to his sides. Then the same a bit higher and higher, calming him down and turning him into a pile of goo.

Until Lee hit a painful spot, that is.

They had to wait for a while until Gaara relaxed enough that it was safe to continue with the massage.

Lee was right when he said it was going to hurt.

Anytime his fingers found another spot, Gaara had to bite his lips not to shout out.

Thankfully his friend was fast and efficient in making the pain lessen, but on the other hand, he was also able to spot the most hurting places unerringly.

After a particularly brutal pressure to one of these places, Gaara was sure that his eyes started to water up. That hadn't happen since he was a small kid. Kami! He was sure it was Lee's elbow now, not his hands.

All inappropriate thoughts gone, Gaara listened to his joints cracking in different weird positions he never considered possible before. Painful positions too. But the strange thing was, nothing got more damaged, on the contrary. With tears in his eyes – yes, he was nearly crying from all the pain – he tried to analyze the situation, only to give up, because he was sure that human legs were not supposed to bend in that way and stay usable.

And now Lee was working on his buttocks.

Oh, Kami! And Kami again!

Gaara definitely grew much more religious today than in all the past years. This was unbelievable. True, during some of the last weeks he fantasized about Lee's touch on his body, but he never expected something like this.

And even on such an intimate place, Lee's hands were not creating heated atmosphere, but put the Kazekage through one hell of a pain.

Well, this got rid of that inappropriate reaction. In a rather brutal way. But the strangest thing of all was that Gaara could feel all the tension leave his body gradually. It was as if the massage unblocked some old pathways in his body. It still hurt a lot, but there was a soothing undertone in his perceptions and he just gave in to them, letting the tears roll from his closed eyes and feeling like something deep inside himself just started to heal.

Lee did not stop the treatment, on the contrary. He murmured in that low voice Gaara loved that it was good to let go and that everything was going to be alright. He made the other lay on his back and continued the intense treatment of other pressure points and muscles, starting with the front side of Gaara's legs, continuing with his hands and arms and back to his shoulders.

At the end, the sand user was sobbing with pure relief this treatment brought him. He did not care at the moment who saw him or what would Lee think about such a behavior. It felt so good to be able to let all that pent up frustrations and tensions flow away and if it caused such unmanly reaction as crying in front of his friend, than be it.

Besides, Lee assured him that it definitely wasn't unusual during such treatments, on the contrary, that it was actually encouraged, to allow the person to heal from inside too. He explained that it was the process itself which called for the emotional reaction, not the pain. That was only an unpleasant side effect and indicator.

The whole thing ended with Lee massaging Gaara's face carefully, wiping away his tears, and then scrubbing his scalp with his oiled fingers. The Leaf shinobi then went into the dressing room, came back with a big terrycloth towel and covered the Kazekage, telling him to feel free to sleep.

Truth to be told, Gaara would not be able to do anything else, even if he would not feel the strong pull of sleep. His body turned into a big pile of goo, every muscle and joint resonating and pulsing pleasantly after the ordeal, making him wanting not to move. Ever. He told this to Lee.

The other man only chuckled and there were some scuffling noises.

Gaara cracked his eyes open for a second and the last thing he saw before the sleep claimed him was Lee's broad back retreating to the deep side of the pool.


	8. Chapter 8

_Okay, I haven't forgotten about you, guys. It's just that I was awfully tired after some more translations, this time about how German exhaust systems help to keep the EPA 2010 norm, and my brain was no worky._

_I haven't managed to submit the chapter earlier today, because I was seeing a doc early at the morning – I broke my right elbow 5 months ago and the mobility of the joint is still severely limited. Now the doc is sending me through more tests to establish whether or not I will have to undergo an operation. Makes me reaaaaly happy person at the moment, but it has to be done._

_Anyway, have you ever tried giving somebody a massage? If you follow some simple rules, it is very pleasant… And all the warnings from the first chapter still apply. Disclaimers too – I haven't managed to bribe Masashi Kishimoto yet._

***

Temari shook her head. Something was amiss.

Team Otokaze had not returned yet; they were two days late from a simple, half-a-day mission. This didn't bode well.

She sighed and went back to her papers. Since she came back from the Kusa there was a ton of paperwork to go through, making a draft of the treaty and making sure that both of the sides were satisfied and could build upon the contract in the future.

Today was the day off for her brothers and their Konoha assistant.

The blonde woman smiled fondly, recalling how she came back after several weeks on mission.

Just after she dropped her tessen in the hall, she was greeted with loud shouts about her eternal springtime of youth.

Strangely enough, it was Kankuro spouting this nonsense this time. He jumped around her, grabbing her into a bear hug from time to time, attempting to pull off Lee's Good guy poses. Sadly, he did not manage the fireworks background.

Lee was leaning on one side of the door, arms folded on his chest.

Temari almost didn't recognize him at the first glance.

He got out of his green spandex and now he wore long deep-green shirt with wide sleeves that reached down to his wrists, made from a light material. He still wore bandages on his hands, leaving only the last two knuckles of his fingers exposed and the white material snaked up his arms. Under the shirt he wore a standard webbed-mesh tee, which was visible clearly, due to the top two buttons on the shirt left undone. Lee's legs were covered by comfortable dark red pants many members of nomadic tribes wore in the desert and he wore the standard shinobi sandals on his feet.

But what surprised Temari the most were not his clothes at all. His hair grew out of his bowl-cut hairstyle by now and he started to comb it back and hold it out of his eyes with his red hitai-ate, which he used to wear instead of belt before. His face tanned considerably and right now he was smirking, but not in an unpleasant way.

The whole set-up made the kunoichi feel that her brother and their friend swapped their personalities somewhere along the line.

The look on her face must have been priceless, because the next thing she knew, both guys and her youngest brother as well just started to laugh.

Gaara. Laughing. Un-fucking-believable.

The dinner afterwards was a comfortable manner, the four of them swapping stories, the guys telling her about the 'eh', interrogating her about her mission and Grass shinobi and so on.

The next day she helped Lee to beat the Kazekage, which in itself was quite a feat. She was surprised a bit when Gaara challenged Lee to a taijutsu-only match and she watched him lose again and again with painful predictability.

And the day after Lee brought her youngest brother back from the onsen totally exhausted and told her he needed to rest.

Gaara spent two days sleeping, waking up only to eat something small and to go to the bathroom.

She was worried at first, but after she learned what was going on, she knew that this was long overdue and it was for the best that it didn't happen during some crisis situation. And so she went and kept his office running instead of him, with Lee's and Kankuro's help.

Later she went on another mission and on her way back she ran into a group of bandits. She didn't have to summon Kamatari this time, but the encounter still left her exhausted and sore. She was reluctant at first to accept Lee's offer of massage, because she didn't know if such an intense experience would help her at that moment, and being naked together with Lee was kind of embarrassing. Sure, she was a kunoichi and she spent a lot of time with other ninja, having to change in front of each other, but this wasn't a mission.

But then Lee persuaded her, actually by using one of his Good guy poses, complete with the fireworks, non-existent wind and sparkles in his eyes and yelling on top of his voice about how he would keep his hands to himself and not use her for any kind of unyouthfull pleasure.

For some reason, this speech did not irritate her as it used to, instead it made her laugh and agree to the treatment.

And Kankuro, the biggest gossip in the whole village, told her that it looked like their brother and Lee seemed to have a weak spot for each other.

As she lay on the bench, her body being pressed and bent in new and quite shockingly painful ways, she understood why Gaara came home so exhausted. She started to curse within first few minutes and by the time Lee was done with her back she was screaming obscenities on the top of her lungs and crying like a small girl.

When she woke up afterwards, she tried to apologize groggily to Lee for so many curses and bad names.

He only laughed and told her that at least he learned a new word or two.

Her mortification was complete at this point and she tried to avoid him for a few days, which was practically impossible due to his position in her brother's office and the fact that he still lived in their house. When they finally run into each other in the library, she expected him to interrogate her about this.

Lee's only reaction was only to smile at her in a friendly way and to wish her a nice day.

She appreciated his respect for her private thoughts ever since.

The four of them fell into a comfortable rhythm of paperwork, missions, meetings and training, but now the time for another meeting with the village of Grass was due, this time on the Suna ground.

It was her duty to supervise all the deals and contracts – and also to hold the council on the tight leash. Temari sighed.

Jouseki, the council member, was causing problems again. True, some of his objections had a point, but some were totally nonsensical.

And besides, she still could not forget how he treated Gaara, his own Kazekage, as a failed experiment and something non-human, even voting for an election of a new Kage instead of rescue, when Gaara was captured by the Akatsuki.

If Jouseki had not helped the village with all he had, she would see to his swift removal.

And she was sure he knew this too. Good.

The blonde wind user gave up trying to concentrate on the papers and decided to go and check on Otokaze's team. She could probably ask Satetsu to send out some scouts.

***

Gaara knocked on Lee's door. He was worried.

Nobody has seen the Leaf shinobi today yet and his chakra signature signaled that he was holed up in his room the whole day, which was more than unusual.

And Gaara also noted several disturbing things in the last few days.

Lee was moving a bit slower than usual, he was not training every day as hard as he usually did, and sometimes even winced in pain when sitting down or standing up, which he tried to hide.

But he could not fool Gaara, who observed him closely for quite some weeks now out of his selfish reasons. He knew that the old spine injury was causing problems to his friend again.

The Kazekage sent him to the onsen, but that didn't seem to help much.

Lee point blank refused to go to the hospital, saying that if Shizune-san, Sakura-chan and Tsunade-sama together could do nothing about this condition, it was useless to go and admit himself willingly to that stinky disinfected place. Besides, there was a lot of work to do with the Kusa delegation arriving soon, and he definitely would not loaf around. Yesterday he didn't come to the training grounds at all and today nobody saw even the tip of his nose. Which also meant that he didn't eat anything today at all.

Gaara frowned and knocked again, letting himself in at the muffled groan from the other side of the door.

The room was dark with the blinds drawn and only a few non-perfumed candles lit the body sprawled face down on the bed.

Lee did not even turn to see who was coming in. He was lying with the sheets bunched around his waist, wearing only his boxers, and even from behind he looked like a picture of a total misery.

The red-head came closer to the bed, putting a bottle of water and a bowl of fruits on the night table. "Lee, are you hungry?"

The other man just groaned again through the mass of his tangled black hair. "No, thanks."

"You should at least drink something." Gaara was never good at comforting others and now he really cursed his lack of ability in this direction. He really wanted to relieve the suffering of his friend and he felt a pang of guilt once more, when he realized that had he controlled himself better all those years ago, none of this would be happening.

"Can't move," was the only response. It looked like speaking was too painful for Lee as well.

Gaara noticed that the taijutsu master's breathing was very shallow. He frowned again and placed his hand on Lee's back, feeling with his fingers for the vertebrae of his friend's spine, the skin under his hand felt like it was on fire.

There it was. One of the vertebrae approximately in the middle of Lee's back was slightly moved to the right.

From what Gaara understood about human anatomy, he knew that this must have pinched a nerve quite badly, limiting Lee's mobility and possibly even the breathing. "Is there anything I could do to make it right?" He tapped the vertebra with his fingers.

Lee moaned. "You would have to get it back in place and it would be the best if you knew something about massage."

The Kazekage thought about it for a while, before arriving to a conclusion, "I do not know about massage, but I know something about human anatomy. Why don't you just tell me what to do?"

The man on the bed thought about it for a while and then nodded carefully. "Okay. Help me stand up." When he was on his feet, he turned his back to Gaara and continued, "Now, I will put my palms on my eyes. I need you to reach around me, about at the level of my elbows. You should be able to hold your wrists and have enough leverage to lift me up. But don't do anything until I say so."

The red-head stood right behind Lee's back and circled his arms around him. It felt strange, to literally embrace the other man. Strange, but good.

The leaf shinobi went on with his instructions. "I will take a deep breath and let it out. When I exhale completely, I need you to bend backwards and drag my body onto yours. That should force my spine to get back in shape. In a case it doesn't do what we need, I will shout and I need you to let go of me immediately in such case. Clear?"

Gaara nodded, "Clear." He felt Lee's ribcage expand, as he took the breath, then he heard him exhale noisily through his mouth and lifted the man in the air, marveling about how their bodies fit to each other.

There was a dull crack and Lee shouted in pain.

Gaara remembered he needed to let go of his friend and he lowered him quickly but carefully to his feet, worried about any possible damage.

But Lee laughed, clearly relieved. "This hurts like hell, but it helped. Thank you, Gaara."

The Kazekage let out a relieved huff and indicated the water and fruit he brought with him, "Then you should eat now."

The black-haired man grinned at him. "Sure. But first things first." He winked and disappeared into the bathroom, grabbing some clothes on his way.

Gaara waited in the room, listening to the sound of the water running in the shower and looked around. It was the first time he was in Lee's room and he could use this opportunity to learn something more about the interesting man.

The whole room seemed tidy and clean, only a few things laying on the table and the shelves, one of them a framed photo of Team Gai with their sensei and the other picture of Lee and Naruto grinning at the camera, Lee in one of his Good guy poses and Naruto shouting something and showing a piece sign.

Gaara could only guess that the blond was talking about his dream to become Hokage again.

There were several open scrolls, on history of Suna, Konoha and Kusa, and some that detailed battle tactics. And several books.

Gaara choked when he recognized the famous Icha-Icha series. He would never peg Lee as the one to read porn. The Kazekage looked at the books again.

There were more than just the three Jiraya-san wrote. There were two more, one with a light blue cover called Icha-Icha Battle and the other one had purple cover and the name of Icha-Icha Treaty. And there was also one without the usual "not suitable for minors" signs, wrapped in a plain brown cover and called The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.

"These are for memories." Lee's baritone interrupted Gaara's thoughts.

The red-head spun, robes whirling around him. He was definitely not the one to feel mortified or embarrassed, that was for sure. But then, usually he was not caught looking at the porn collection of his friends.

Lee, dressed in comfortable black sweatpants and toweling his hair dry, came out of the bathroom, looking amused. "I keep them as a reminder of Jiraya-san and his ideals." He came to stand close to Gaara, taking the books of the shelf, putting the orange, red and green ones aside. "These are the usual stuff Jiraya san wrote. This," he showed Gaara the brown book, "This is his first book. It is about Jiraya-san's ideal, about a shinobi who swears to break the curse of war, ending the cycle of hatred and vengeance. Did you know that he was actually Nagato's sensei?"

Gaara only shook his head. "Who is Nagato?"

"Oh, sorry. Of course, you wouldn't know. Pein, of the Akatsuki, he had several bodies." Lee's eyes became distant.

"This I know." The Kazekage was getting intrigued.

"Well, the one we saw as the Deva Path, the one with the piercings in his nose, was a body of his friend Yahiko. Nagato, Yahiko and Konan, the woman with the paper rose in her hair, were orphans in Ame…"

Gaara listened to the tale of the three children and Jiraya teaching them the ninja arts, about the ambush set by the Amegakure leader and Yahiko's death and how Nagato controlled the different Paths from a distance, his own body pierced by chakra rods slowly withering away. He listened to the life story of the man who commanded a group of highly dangerous missing-nins who basically managed to kill him. Yet he could not find it in himself to hate the man.

Lee told him about the invasion to Konoha, this time led by Pein himself, and how Naruto managed to find him and talk to him, telling him about the book and Jiraya's ideal. "…Sometime during that talk Nagato decided to bring those his Paths have killed back to life and so we got Shizune-san, Kakashi-san, Hinata-chan and many others back. This costed Nagato his own life though and he died, and I don't know what happened to Konan afterwards. Jiraya-san dedicated this book to Nagato when he trained them and I heard a rumor that Naruto is called Naruto after the main character in this story." Lee put the book back on the shelf and he had only the blue and purple ones left.

Now that Gaara could see them closely, the picture on the cover of Icha-Icha Battle showed two men holding hands and running from an irate female. On the cover of the last book were two men again, obviously making out with each other and with the woman sandwiched between them. He raised a brow at his friend.

The taijutsu user chuckled a bit awkwardly. "Yes, Team Seven has really…unique dynamic, let's say."

Gaara gaped.

True, Naruto and his teammates were always very close to each other, even with Sakura's temper and Sai's emotional impairment, but to openly admit that they are in a threesome, that took some courage. And they had to have really good acting skills too, because nobody noticed anything during their stay in Suna.

Lee put all the books back to their place. "Naruto says he continues in the honor of Jiraya-san's name, Sai says that it is a good additional income and when I asked Sakura-chan about it, she only smiled and did not reply."

The sand user grabbed the bottle of water and passed it to his friend. "So, how did you find out it was them?"

The black-haired man grimaced. "I ran into them. Seriously, you would think they would take their youthful activities to some more private place than a training ground five early in the morning…" He drank a little of the water and continued. "I did not know what to do at first. I mean, it is not every day you find your future leader in a very compromising position between his two teammates."

It was Gaara's turn to scowl now. "That's too much information, Lee!"

"Hey, imagine how I felt!" The Leaf shinobi choose an apple and started to munch on it. "Later Naruto cornered me and told me about the books as well. He asked me not to tell anybody, but apparently I wasn't the first or the last one to run into them like that. I remember when Kiba-kun came one evening into the mission room looking totally bewildered and Hinata-chan asking him if he saw them too…" He threw the apple core into the waste bin and looked at the Kazekage, "So, still want to help me with my back?"

The other man shrugged. "Sure. We have a day off and if I can pay you back for that massage you gave me, the better."

Lee went back to bed and lay down on his belly again. He rested his head on his folded forearms and so his voice was muffled when he said, "Oh no, don't expect to get to something like that today. That is a pretty difficult thing and requires a very good knowledge of human body and chakra pathways, and even if you knew all those things, it can't be used on my body anyhow. We take it slow and just do some relaxing techniques today. So, do you see the massage oil on that shelf?"

Gaara looked around and he spotted the small bottle easily. He got it, reading the label and recognizing the handwriting as Sakura's. He approached the bed. "What now?"

Lee shrugged, which caused the muscles in his back shift and he groaned.

That looked like it hurt.

The taijutsu user looked up at Gaara. "I think you should take off your robes. They are too long and with long sleeves, and they could get oily pretty easily."

Was it only Gaara's imagination or did he blush a bit, as he said that?

The Kazekage shrugged off his outer robes, wearing only his black pants and the mesh undershirt now, looking at the other man silently.

Lee turned his face back and continued, "Now, pour a bit of the oil in your hand and let it heat up to body temperature. Then spread it over my back – trying to do a massage without some lubricant would only irritate the skin. And it would be probably the best, if you would sit on my legs. You will need it for the leverage later."

This time there was no mistake that the Beautiful green beast of Konoha was blushing – his ears turned positively red and there were bright spots even at the back of his neck.

Gaara smirked and did as he was told, letting the oil drip through his fingers along the taijutsu fighter's spine, rubbing it into his skin with long smooth moves he remembered from getting his treatment. Trying to create a distraction for the sake of them both, he asked about the first thing that came to his mind. "You got this oil custom made?"

Lee groaned appreciatively, the sound rumbling through his ribcage and straight into the red-heads fingertips. "Yes. I asked Sakura-chan to make it for me. It's a mix of several natural oils, both light and heavier ones and it also helps my skin a lot." He lay still for a while before giving Gaara the next instruction, "Okay. Now, put your thumbs to the either side of my lower spine and press outwards slightly. Then do the same a bit higher. If you meet a harder spot, treat it first lightly and then gradually add pressure until it disappears. I will tell you if something feels wrong."

Gaara moved his hands obediently, encountering the first problem point quite soon. He concentrated on dissolving it and felt the man under his hands sigh in pleasure.

They continued like this for a while, the sand fighter losing himself in the feeling of his friend's skin under his hands and listening to his pleasured and satisfied sounds.

Lee definitely did not hold back, sighing, moaning and groaning anytime Gaara's fingers loosened another painful knot in his muscles, murmuring to the other how good it felt and how great he was.

The intimate atmosphere, darkened room and candlelight shot the Kazekage's imagination into overdrive and he wondered if the black-haired athlete would be so vocal also under different circumstances. This was definitely not helping his self control, especially the fact that he was basically sitting on Lee's buttocks and that they were actually in the bed together. The only thing missing was the sexual act itself, and Gaara blushed fiercely when he imagined how this must look like to anybody who could be possibly hearing this.


	9. Chapter 9

_So, I am delayed in posting again, I know… Life's not the kindest thing at the moment and I again switched off my computer at the evening only to recall that I hadn't uploaded… Honestly, I was already too tired to move at the moment, so here you are now… :-)_

_Naruto is still not mine, I still make no profit from writing this and last time I checked this was still mature-themed because of violent and erotic scenes…_

_By the way, some of you know that English is not my main language, so if you see a mistake, feel free to point it out. I'll appreciate!_

***

Kankuro headed down the corridor, wanting to drag Lee out of his den and out for lunch. It was time to pay him back for all those 'eh' attacks. He arrived at the Leaf shinobi's door and extended his hand to knock but pausing when he finally registered what those noises were. He could recognize the taijutsu master's voice and looked at the door bemused.

So, Lee finally found himself someone. That was interesting.

The puppeteer enhanced his senses with chakra and tried to find out who was the lucky one, torn between being happy for his friend and being upset because of his brother. His eyes widened when he found out just whose chakra it was, that was merging with Lee's own signature.

"Oh, Gaara…" The man's voice was low and husky, sending shivers down Kankuro's spine.

He sensed his sister's chakra approaching rapidly, very disturbed and he frowned.

Temari soon came out of an intersecting corridor. "Where's Gaara?"

Kankuro nodded in the direction of Lee's door. "What's up?"

The blonde woman scowled. "We have an emergency. What is he doing here, actually?"

As on a cue, Lee's voice moaned from behind the door again. "Yeah… Right there."

"What?!" Temari's eyes rounded and her mouth gaped in a perfect "o".

The masked puppeteer sniggered. "Yeah. I just came to take Lee out for a lunch, he'd been holed in his room since yesterday afternoon, and imagine my shock."

More sighs and groans from Lee's room left both of the Sand shinobi in the corridor blushing and not quite looking at each other.

Finally Temari shrugged. "Whatever. It's an emergency." She knocked on the door "Gaara? Lee? I'm sorry guys, but we have a sit to deal with."

Gaara called back. "Come in, the door's not locked." His voice in his usual monotone, only the years of living and working together allowed his siblings to spot the slight annoyance.

The wind mistress blushed even more. "Are you sure?"

"Come on, we're not doing something inappropriate." This was Lee, his voice strained a little bit.

It was Kankuro who opened the door eventually and entered Lee's room as first, taking in the sight.

The closed blinds and lighted candles definitely did not indicate some innocent activity, but when he looked on the bed, he started to laugh.

Lee was lying face down, his left arm twisted behind his back.

Gaara was leaning above him, holding Lee's forearm high on his back with his knee, supporting Lee's shoulder from under it with his left palm and using the fingers on his right hand to dig under the other's shoulder blade.

The black-haired man groaned again, "That's good, Gaara… Now, let go." He put both his hands palms down on the bed, raised his body slightly and waited.

The Kazekage climbed down reluctantly, glaring at his siblings slightly and explaining. "A vertebra in Lee's spine moved and I was just helping him to straighten it out." He sounded almost morose and petulant.

Kankuro continued to laugh, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

Temari slapped his arm. "Drop it." She turned to her youngest brother, trying not to look at Lee as he dressed up. "We have a problem. Team Otokaze is down and the delegation from Kusagakure has been attacked by some of their own Missing-nin. We need to go and help them immediately."

Gaara scowled slightly but nodded and went to put on his robes. "How many attackers?"

His sister scowled back at him, "Definitely more than ten and less than thirty. Precise estimation was impossible. The four of us should be enough as the reinforcements."

Lee had already his hands bandaged and now he was pulling a skin-tight sleeveless shirt over his mesh undershirt, his voice muffled a bit. "How did you find out?" He finished dressing and bent down to put bandages around his ankles, to prevent his pants from flapping around.

The blonde shrugged. "I got a bad feeling and I've sent some of the messenger hawks to look around. They've found the bodies and reported back with the news about the attack. Oh, and I nearly forgot – the Ino-Shika-Cho team is helping the Grass team already. They were sent by the Hokage to escort them through the Rain territory."

"Alright." Lee slid into his sandals and tied them firmly. He was ready to go. "Gaara, could you use your sand to teleport us?"

The already dressed Kazekage nodded. "Where are they?"

"Near the Rabbit Oasis. It's an easy place to set an ambush and there are not many plants the Grass ninja could use."

"Okay." The red-haired ninja walked out of the room, throwing the last command over his shoulder, "I meet you at the entrance hall in five minutes."

Kankuro ran off to fetch his storage scroll with his puppet, leaving his sister and Lee behind.

The two walked slowly to the hall, Temari strapping her giant fan to her back and adjusting her weapons pouch on her hip. Finally she gave in to her curiosity and asked Lee bluntly, "So, you and Gaara. What's going on?"

He looked at her with confused eyes, eating a persimmon he grabbed just before they left his room. "What do you mean?"

She stared at him for a while, then she decided he's really not making fun of her and waved her hand dismissively, "Forget it."

***

Gaara's transportation technique was really powerful and got them near the Rabbit oasis in no time. They had to proceed carefully from there, not to alert any of the enemy ninja.

Kankuro followed Gaara to the western side of the small oasis silently, used to fight at his brother's side as a bodyguard. Soon they ran into Shikamaru.

The strategist was holding a grass missing-nin in his shadow grasp, choking him slowly.

"Take him alive," Gaara ordered curtly.

The puppeteer nodded, ran to the slowly suffocating man and hit him in the head with a kunai hilt.

The Kazekage turned to the Leaf shinobi. "Report."

Shikamaru already had a cigarette in his mouth, lighting it before he responded. "Ino-Shika-Cho Team from Konoha escorting a team of three shinobi and two civilians from Kusa. We were supposed to rendezvous here with a team from Suna, Otokaze and his three genin. They never arrived, but we got a visit from Kusa missing-nin."

Kankuro finished binding the unconscious man. "Do we know why and how many?"

The smoking nin nodded. "They spouted about how Gaara killed the two shinobi who wanted him to cheat at the exams all those years ago and that the Torikage is entering into the unholy alliance with Suna. They want revenge. Ino managed to enter the mind of the leader for a few seconds. There are thirty five of them here, I took out three already, this would be the fourth one. Ino and the rest is that way." He waved his hand in the direction of a cluster of boulders.

There was a roar and broad shoulders and head with auburn hair appeared above the boulders.

Shikamaru finished, "And there is Chouji. Who's with you?"

Gaara turned and walked in the direction of the battle, leaving Kankuro behind to explain.

The black-clad ninja shrugged. "Temari and Lee."

The two of them followed the Kazekage, Shikamaru taking one last drag of the cigarette and throwing the rest aside.

Meanwhile on the other side of the oasis Lee and Temari ran straight into the enemy.

The taijutsu master did not waste any time and dove into the fight with a Dynamic entry cry, knocking two of the missing-nin out with a single hit each. The rest was better prepared and soon he was dodging and deflecting shuriken, kunai and machetes.

Suddenly there was a glint of metal and one of the rogue ninja around him fell down with a senbon sticking out of his eye socket.

The blonde wind user turned around and noticed a slim figure with long fair hair standing on a boulder and sending one kunai after the other into the wave of enemy.

Three shinobi in gray fatigues were fighting shoulder to shoulder not far from her, protecting two civilians hiding in a shallow cave.

Temari nodded, that was a good choice. No enemy ninja could sneak on the dignitaries from behind or from above. She snapped her tessen open and waved it in a simple curve, while jumping at the same time. The wind lifted her, until she was level with Ino and she shouted, "Lee, cover!"

The Leaf ninja nodded and after a moment he jumped out of the grey mass of fighters.

The wind mistress redirected her attention to the Grass shinobi to her right, ordering them to crouch as soon as she started. Then she raised her tessen again and swept it in elegant and complicated motion.

A strong gust of hot air swept over her crouched allies and forced the enemy fighters to retreat, several of them falling of the boulders at the same moment.

She really hoped the bastards broke their necks and sent several kunai after them. From her raised point she could clearly see the whole terrain. It was really a good place for defense.

Ino was to her left and the Grass company was to her right.

Chouji was directly under them, slamming their enemies to the ground with his Mega Palm Thrust technique. He could not use his human bullet techniques here, because he could crush allies as well as enemies. Still, he was causing considerable damage to the enemy.

Gaara appeared from behind the mass of rock at Temari's right side, his voice ringing clearly over the battle noises, "Take them alive, if possible." This was clearly a gesture of good will towards their potential allies, allowing them to take care of their own traitors. He used his sand to trap the rogues one by one, always crushing them enough for them to be incapacitated but not enough to kill them.

Chouji made a protesting noise and stopped slapping his hands to the ground, using his mean right hook on his enemies instead.

Temari continued to swipe her tessen, creating short and concentrated gusts of wind, directed precisely on those missing nin who came too close to their party, allowing the Grass shinobi to switch to a long-range techniques instead. Yet she had to be very careful, because any dust or sand raised would blind her comrades as well as the enemy.

Kankuro and Shikamaru, who came to the battlefield after Gaara, worked in tandem. After Chouji and Gaara knocked the enemy shinobi out, Shikamaru held him down with his Kagemane no Jutsu and Kankuro sent the puppet to retrieve the enemy and bound him with a chakra wire. Soon they had several ninja set aside in a neat stack.

Lee was wreaking havoc in the last bigger group of the missing-nin, leaving moaning men behind, who nursed broken limbs or held their heads, several of them also pinned to the ground by Ino's weapons.

Everything was going smoothly and routinely, Gaara getting close to the middle of the oasis, when three black-clad ninja jumped from behind a big boulder, clearly waiting for this opportunity the entire time, their machetes directed at Gaara's unguarded back.

Lee saw them from his position and before anybody else could react, his hands flew through the seals of the Initial Lotus, giving him the speed to appear behind Gaara, facing the three assassins, going through more seals at a rapid pace.

Ino saw what was going on. "Lee, no!" But it was too late.

Gaara spun around only to feel that everything suddenly slowed down, all the sounds getting muted, and he could only watch what was happening in front of him.

The taijutsu master turned red in his face, his eyes blazing with the energy coming from his inner chakra gates opening and crushed the ninja in the middle to the ground. The head of the man did not even hit the ground yet when the black-haired fighter spun in a fierce round kick, hitting the second man in the chest, causing several ribs to crack.

Bloody foam flew out of the mouth of the assassin and he fell to the ground, his lungs crushed by the hit and punctured by the fragments of his own ribs, dying.

But the third ninja was supernaturally fast himself, aiming the strike of his machete at Gaara, not caring about his own defense.

The Kazekage knew he would not be able to summon his sand defense fast enough, nor was he nimble enough to avoid the brutal downward sweep of the blade. He realized that all those stories about one's life rushing before his eyes are rubbish and he only hoped that those he cared about would survive and maybe take this bastard down.

Suddenly he was looking at Lee's face. He could not understand where did it appear from, realizing only a fraction of second later that the martial arts master used the Reverse Lotus technique to gain the unnatural speed and strength.

Lee was smiling at him, but suddenly his eyes went unfocused and a trickle of blood spilled from his mouth, down his chin and soaking in his shirt.

Everything stilled for the briefest of moments when Gaara understood what happened.

One of his best friends, somebody he cared about, somebody really precious to the former Jinchuuriki's heart took a blade meant for him.

A piece of metal whizzed past his shoulder, hitting the neck of the enemy, slicing it open and spraying both young men with bright red blood.

The pace of time reverted to normal. From the trajectory of the shuriken the red-head knew that Ino took care of the last assassin, but he didn't care. He roared, feeling rage so powerful that not even being fully possessed by the one-tailed demon could not compare to it. He spread his hands, making all the sand rise in the air, carrying the enemy nins with it.

There was a complete silence, saved for Lee's labored breathing and somebody running in their direction.

Then Gaara clenched his fists in a final gesture.

A warm rain fell over the desert oasis. The rain of blood.

The Kazekage paid no attention to the enemy anymore. He caught his friend's swaying body, lowering him gently to the ground. He growled threateningly when small hands tried to pull Lee out of his grasp, but he stopped when he realized it was Ino.

The blonde kunoichi was already kneeling beside the fallen taijutsu fighter, her hands glowing with green medical chakra, her features showing her concentration. After a few moments she opened her eyes in relief and looked at the sand user. "He's alive. Unconscious, but alive. I can keep him stabilized but we need to get to the hospital fast." There was a tear rolling down her face.

Gaara looked at his siblings and commanded curtly, "Count the losses. Inform Konoha, request Sakura. Escort visitors." He didn't wait for them to acknowledge his commands and shaped the bloody sand covering the ground into a hovering platform supporting him, Lee and the kunoichi, who didn't dare to take her hands off her comrade's body.

She looked at him calmly, not perturbed by the levitation in the slightest. "Hurry. I don't have much chakra. He messed up all his tissues by that bloody Ura Renge and I cannot hold him alone." Her voice was strained.

The Kazekage concentrated on the maximal speed possible, not daring to teleport them. The process could mess with the medical chakra and harm Lee even more. He looked down again.

Lee was lying on his back, his face strangely serene, blood drying on his cheeks, both his and that of his enemies.

Gaara saw lighter spots appearing in the grime on his friend's cheeks. It took him a while to realize that for the second time just in a few weeks Lee made him cry.


	10. Chapter 10

Temari felt the history was repeating itself. She was sitting in the dark waiting room again, anxiously watching the big window showing the operation room, where one of the Suna's best medi-nins, Sekka, fought for a life of someone close, his apprentice Ryoukan adding his efforts. And just like when Kankuro was poisoned by Sasori, they were waiting for help from Konoha.

What was new though was the Team Ten from Konoha, following their friends, the three of them sitting at the back and talking in low whispers with each other.

And the Kazekage who was pacing around the room restlessly, glancing through the window from time to time and clenching his fists.

The wind mistress understood how her brother felt. She remembered the feeling of helplessness and despair, when she watched her other brother dying slowly unable to do anything to aid him, all too well. She had sent three messenger hawks to Konoha immediately from the battle field and now she hoped that the medi-nin would be able to hold Lee alive until Sakura arrived.

She and the Grass nin escorted the dignitaries into the hotel, leaving Kankuro and the rest of Team Ten to deal with the prisoner.

After Gaara's rage there was only one left, the guy Kankuro knocked out at the very beginning. Hidden behind the boulders he did not get crushed by the sand and now he was going to be interrogated by Satetsu.

Temari smirked in satisfaction, twisting her features in a cruel and ugly smile.

Satetsu did not like traitors, even if they were from another village. He was completely berserk when he found out that the Yondaime Kazekage was killed by Orochimaru, and now he would not go easy on somebody who defected from their duties to try and assassinate his leader. And he also liked Lee, the loud Konoha shinobi's personal code of duty and honor was very close to his own.

She looked at her youngest brother again and sighed, her mood turning to sympathy in an instant.

The Kazekage looked like a caged tiger. He did not leave the waiting room since he brought his friend to the hospital, not even to wash or change his bloodied clothes. His aura radiated such a strong killing intent that nobody really wanted to talk to him.

Temari was not surprised, knowing that he was blaming himself again. She felt guilty too, because she was glad that both of her brothers were alright and weren't down there, fighting their silent battle for life. She felt like a hypocrite, knowing that Gaara would be completely devastated in the taijutsu master died, yet being glad that their friend took the blade instead of her little brother.

Ino explained to all of them, as soon as they all gathered in the waiting room (except for Kankuro who volunteered to run Gaara's office temporarily), that this was going to be much harder than an ordinary blade-in-the-back case. The point of Ura Renge, the Reversed Lotus, was in opening more and more chakra gates in human body, giving it the access to an extra energy and power, even to somebody like Lee, who could not manipulate the chakra itself to save his life.

However, everything came with a price.

In its ultimate version, the Reverse Lotus was basically a suicide technique. No matter how well-trained the body was, human bones, joints and muscles were evolved with some strain and effectiveness in mind and the supernatural speed and power also caused supernatural strain on them. The power came at the price of the body itself, starting to wear down and tear the muscles, also adding enormous exhaustion to the process, after the third chakra gate was open. After opening the fifth gate, the technique could be used only once leaving the ninja unable to stand afterwards.

And if all the chakra gates were opened, the user would become unstoppable, but die in the process due to the muscle damage and disintegration.

Ino estimated that Lee opened at least six chakra gates this time.

There was a commotion in the operation room, the door flying open and a familiar pink-haired kunoichi walking briskly to the operation table.

Behind her was a petite woman with dark hair, her face grim.

Temari recognized her as Tsunade's assistant, Shizune. It was obvious that the Hokage either cared about her shinobi a lot or at least suspected what was going on between Lee and Gaara, because she has sent not only her best medic-nin, but two of them.

The brunette relieved Sekka, keeping Lee's body stabilized. She frowned.

Yeah right, thought the wind mistress. We totally needed a reminder how grave the situation is, thank you very much.

Sakura stopped asking the Suna medic-nins and sent them away with a confident gesture, then raised her eyes to the big window in the wall, found her best friend and beckoned her to come into the room.

Ino jumped to her feet and ran down the stairs to the operation room. She talked with Sakura for a while, then took Shizune's place at Lee's side.

Both Konohan medics left the room again, Sakura coming up to the waiting space. Her face was tired, her clothes dusty and it was clear that she and Shizune ran at the top of their speed to get here as soon as possible. "I've sent Ryoukan and Sekka to rest. Shizune and I will rest as well and the operation will begin in five hours. I will need your medics in there again, the damage is too excessive and I need a strong team. Ino can keep him stabilized for now, until we begin, then she can rest too." She paused for a moment, looking first at Temari, then at Gaara. "And no observers."

There was a silence for a moment, until Shikamaru asked in his lazy drawl, "Estimation?"

The Suna kunoichi shuddered. This word was so impersonal, so cold… It could mean both hope and despair. He was asking Sakura if she thinks Lee will live or die.

The pink-haired woman scowled, obviously thinking something along the same line as Temari, then shrugged. "I don't know. Lee does have a knack for surviving despite all the odds, but he really did a number on himself this time. You have to consider that surviving isn't the only thing at stake here."

Chouji stopped munching on his chips. "What do you mean?"

Sakura rubbed her face tiredly, "He might not be able to walk. He might not be able to move at all. Maybe he will get away with a slight limp or no damage at all, I can't tell at this moment and it will be clear only after the operation is complete." She sighed. "Do you remember how down he was when he was told he might never walk again?"

Most of the people in the room nodded.

"Well, I don't want to predict anything at this moment. It is impossible. But if he ends up paralyzed, I would not be so surprised if he would choose death instead." She turned to leave.

Temari shook off the numbness that hit her after Sakura's words and caught the medic by the elbow, "Wait a minute, are you telling me that Lee would commit a suicide? Are you crazy? He has the strongest will power I've ever seen in a person! And how can you say something like that? I thought you guys were friends…"

The pink-haired kunoichi looked at her. "He IS my friend, Temari. But I'm a medic-nin and this IS a possibility. I really hope that I am wrong, but I cannot give you any false hopes. And no, I don't think that Lee would commit a suicide."

"Then why did you…"

Sakura interrupted her forcefully. "Because sometimes a person can lose the will to live. Especially, if their life-long dream is lost. Especially, if they feel like a burden to others. Haven't you seen this amongst your shinobi during all these years? Sometimes they just lose all hope themselves and wither away slowly, no matter what their close ones do." She turned to face the whole group again. "I don't want to scare you or send you into despair. But I really can not and will not promise you that everything is going to be fine. You know that would be an empty promise."

The medic nin walked back to the door again, leaving her stunned friends behind. "Gaara, would you please come with me? I need to talk to you about something." She waited for the Kazekage, then closed the door behind them, leaving the silent group behind.

Eventually Shikamaru stirred. "Blimey, I have to admit that I did think something along the line of Sakura patching Lee up and everything being fine since. This is really troublesome…" His voice trailed off and he left the room.

Chouji followed him out, closing the door behind them silently.

Temari stayed by the window in the wall for a long while, looking on the tan man fighting for every next breath and the slender blonde keeping him alive with her glowing hands. "Please don't die," she whispered. "Please, don't leave Gaara."

***

The Kazekage followed Sakura in silence, until he realized where they were going. "What do you need in my house?"

She did not bother to turn around. "I need to talk to you."

He frowned at her back, "Yes, you said that." He could not help but feel the blinding rage at that moment. He felt hot all over and his sight was clouded in pinkish veil, which had nothing to do with the hair of his companion. His muscles tensed and suddenly he was ready to fight once again, before he realized what was going on. He hated her because she said aloud what he was even afraid to think. He hated her for saying that Lee might die.

The pink-haired kunoichi did not show any discomfort, even though she must have felt the surges in his chakra. She stopped a chuunin on the street and ordered a light meal for two to be brought to the Kazekage's place, not even asking Gaara for permission to command his people around.

Eventually they arrived to his home.

Not even hesitating for a while, Sakura opened the door and walked through first, shedding her sandals in the corridor. She beckoned the former Jinchuuriki to follow her.

He did. The whole situation was somehow surreal. Lee was struggling to survive at the hospital and now a kunoichi from another village was ordering him around at his own house. Should she attempt to do so before the Shukkaku extraction, he would have killed her on the spot, friend or not, ally or not. Now it just felt as some kind of a bad dream.

He really hoped he would wake up soon.

Sakura led him to the main bathroom and shoved him through the door. "Bathe. You stink." She slammed the door closed.

Gaara stood in the tiled room, blinking at the closed door owlishly.

That woman was really overstepping the boundaries. This was insulting and demeaning.

Her voice came from behind the closed door, "I will not let you out until you wash the blood of yourself – Ino told me it's been two days since that fight and that you haven't eaten anything too. This is unbecoming of a Kage, Gaara. And you would not help Lee by collapsing from exhaustion or starving yourself to death."

The red-head looked at himself in the mirror and cringed. As much as he hated to admit it at the moment, Sakura was right.

His reflection showed him a person covered in brownish stains and dust, unkempt hair clogged together, feverish look in his eyes and dark rims the most pronounced ever since the one-tail Bijuu extraction. His cheeks had sunken slightly and his skin had an unhealthy flush.

Gaara sniffed his robes and scowled in disgust. Sweat and rotten blood. Eugh. How comes he hadn't noticed this earlier?

Oh right. Because his friend was dying.

The Kazekage suppressed the urge to run back to the hospital, deciding to trust Sakura.

She was one of the best medics of this era, after all, her abilities surpassed only by those of the Godaime Hokage. And she saved his brother. If she trusted Ino to keep Lee alive, so would he.

The sand user shook off the clothes and turned the shower on. He stepped under the stream of warm water, letting it wash all the grime in his hair and on his body away.

When he came out, dressed in the bathrobe, he found Sakura sitting on the floor at the opposite wall, leaning on it.

She smiled at him. "Much better. Now come, it's time to eat something."

Gaara frowned, "I'm not hungry."

She stood up and shrugged. "Of course you aren't, with all this going on. That doesn't change the fact that your body does need some food. C'mon."

Later Gaara could not recall what he ate then. His thoughts were straying back to the taijutsu master again and again. He could not understand how Sakura could stay so calm and seemingly uncaring.

She ate calmly and silently, ignoring Gaara's staring.

When they finished the meal, she escorted him to his bedroom and told him to get in the bed.

He looked at her, then dropped the bathrobe and climbed under the sheets. Even though it was irritating, having to comply with her demands, he was somehow grateful for her telling him what to do. He didn't have to think at the moment and that was good.

The kunoichi leaned above him and placed her fingers on his forehead. "I'm going to put a mild sleep jutsu on you. It will help you to relax and it will also keep the nightmares away. You need to rest too."

The red-haired man caught her wrist. "I can't rest. It's my fault…"

She smiled at him. "No, it's not. Lee would only use the Lotus to protect his precious person. It was his choice, not yours." She formed several seals and touched his forehead again. "Now sleep."

***

After closing Gaara's doors behind her, Sakura walked to her room, showered and laid down to sleep for a few hours too.

Eventually the alarm clock rang. She got up, combed her hair and got dressed. She left her arm guards and shin guards aside, but she still put the mesh undershirt and leggins on and strapped her kunai pouch to her leg. Medic or not, she was still shinobi and she was used to think in the terms of defense and attack possibilities automatically.

She retrieved several of her scrolls from her backpack and left her room.

Shizune was already waiting for her in the hall.

When they arrived to the hospital, they joined Sekka and his assistant in the preparation room.

Sakura instructed the two Suna medic-nins about their role in the operation, while putting on her scrubs and hiding her hair under the cap. She walked into the operation room first, relieving exhausted and ashen-looking Ino.

The Konohan kunoichi uncorked a vial with ink and dipped her brush in it, starting to draw the first sign on Lee's body.

The battle for her friend's life has begun.


	11. Chapter 11

_Thank you everybody who faved and/or added this story to their story alert. __I haven't updated in a little while. I blame my allergy, because my nose is stuffed, I can't breathe and all I want to do is sleep off the meds… But nevertheless, here you are._

_BTW, I am sorry to disappoint those who expected me to hook up Temari and Shikamaru. I had one of the Grass ninja in my mind for her, but then I decided to skip that story line to keep the main plot clear and easy-going…_

***

Shikamaru walked down the corridors of the Kazekage tower and frowned. This was getting out of hand.

Sakura only managed to tell them that Lee will live before she passed out due to the exhaustion from the operation.

He and his team were taking turns together with the Sand siblings by his bed before the taijutsu master finally woke up from the coma, at which moment Sakura kicked them out of the room and talked with the black-haired shinobi for a long while. Eventually the door opened again and she called them back in.

They all piled back in, only to find Lee sitting up in his bed looking somber.

This was so unusual, that Chouji stopped in the middle of the door, causing Kankuro to trip and crash down, taking Temari with him. It would be funny, but neither of them cursed or laughed. Something was wrong in this room and they wanted to know.

Sakura took a deep breath, before speaking in a low voice. "The operation was successful as far as Lee's mobility is concerned. He will be able to walk again soon."

Kankuro frowned. "This is good news, definitely. Why so serious, then? What are you not telling us?"

The medic-nin looked at Lee again, frowning, hesitating.

The Nara genius knew her well enough to realize that this is going to be something really bad. And it was.

"The strain on his muscles was too much this time." She hesitated again.

Shikamaru finally dared to ask. "Is he going to be able to continue as a ninja?"

Sakura shook her head sadly. "No."

Temari gasped.

The pink-haired woman continued. "The tissue is too frail and with the strain of Lee's usual training, they would tear constantly. Civilian style of life is going to be okay, but no running too fast, no lifting of heavy burdens, no strong hits…" Her voice trailed off and she took a deep breath. "Tsunade-sama was able to repair some of the damage in the past, but the bones around the spine were already too messed up even before the last injury. Now that the muscles are worn out like this, there isn't much left to hold together. No missions and no being shinobi."

Chouji hid his pack of chips. "Not even in administrative?"

It was the puppeteer who answered his question. "Even the ninja in the administration are required to go on missions and be able to serve as a backup in the case of need."

Shikamaru heard a rustle of clothes from behind him and footsteps fading into the background. He took in the sliver of hurt in Lee's eyes and he knew instantly, who left.

Gaara had not come to visit Lee ever since.

The strategist of Konoha finally arrived to the Kazekage's antechambers and greeted Kankuro.

The puppeteer looked overworked, his kabuki paint was slightly smudged, stubble showing through and his clothes looked rumpled. "Hey man, what's up?"

"You have a moment?" Shikamaru didn't want to talk about it here, but he would if he had to.

Kankuro sighed. "No, not really. I haven't realized how much we started to rely on Lee and how much easier it was to work with him. What is it about?"

The dark-haired man rolled his eyes in the direction of Gaara's door. "About him."

"Oh." The other shinobi rubbed his hands over his face in a tired gesture, not caring about smearing his paint further and thought for a while. Finally he said in a hoarse voice, "Fine. I need to eat something anyhow. Let's go for lunch." He called a chuunin and told him to take over for a while.

When the two men were seated at the back of a small café near the Kazekage tower and ordered their food, Shikamaru lit his cigarette and started. "So, what's going on between them?" He knew that Kankuro did not need any specification.

"Don't know, man. Best pals, probably having hots for each other, but now, I don't know…" the voice of his masked companion trailed off as their drinks arrived. He thanked the waitress and continued, "He's literally barricaded in the office, starting early at the morning and leaving late at night, just like he used to do before Lee's 'eh attacks'."

Shikamaru nodded, "So he got you too, huh? Anyhow, I talked to Sakura before she left and she told me that Gaara might feel guilty about the whole thing. How about that?"

Kankuro shrugged and sipped his coffee. "That's probably it. I mean, I did feel guilty about his scars, yunno, those he got from Gaara at the exams? And it wasn't me who put them there, so imagine how my brother feels." He swallowed a shot of alcohol he ordered with his drink and exhaled. "Shit, we were still wondering how comes he doesn't hate us. I mean, like the whole family…"

The tanned shinobi dragged on his cigarette. "And now Lee took the hit meant for him and because of the injuries Gaara caused in the past, he's off the active roster. I can see that." He stubbed the cancer stick out and drank his tea. "Hasn't your brother realized, that Lee doesn't do hate? I am sure that the guy understands the concept of such an emotion, but he seems to be totally incapable of anything like that. Angry? Yes. Annoyed? Totally. Hurt? That too. In fact," Shikamaru paused only to light another nicotine treat. "In fact I think that 'hurt' is exactly what Lee is doing right now. I think that he probably depends on this bond with your brother a lot. Definitely more than Gaara seems to realize."

The waitress came with their food at that moment, giving Kankuro time to think about what his companion said.

The puppeteer leaned back in his seat, breaking his chopsticks. "I know that. But you have to realize one thing – none of us exactly know how to behave in such a situation and he's the worst of us. I mean, everybody being afraid of you, treating you like a monster, telling you to die and trying to kill you, that has to damage something, yunno? And me and Temari, we did a number on him ourselves too. Fuck, he had Shukkaku sealed inside and our mom had died after giving birth to him. And the Yondaime went crazy after she was gone, even though he basically killed her himself." Kankuro's voice was impersonal and his expression distant, as he spoke about his family.

Shikamaru noticed he didn't call the man who sired him "father" but chose not to comment on it. He took his own chopsticks, snapped them apart and started to eat, while listening to the other man.

"What I mean, Gaara doesn't know much about human feelings. Hell, he never had the opportunity to learn about them, other than books and later Naruto and you guys. Lee's probably the closest person he ever had and now he went and hurt him. Again. This is what he probably thinks. It's Yashamaru all over again, only from the other side."

The Konohan shinobi interrupted him, "Yashamaru was your uncle?"

Kankuro swallowed the mouthful of food and nodded, "Yeah. The one who told him he loves him and then tried to blow him up. How about that?"

Shikamaru sighed. "So troublesome. Still, he should try and wrap his mind around the fact that Lee isn't like most people he's ever met. I know that your brother is probably having a hard time, but you know, he's hurting my friend right now."

The puppeteer finished his food silently, drank the rest of the coffee and finally said, "Fine. I will try and talk to him about it tonight."

The other man looked at him for a while. "That would be good. Lee's getting discharged tomorrow."

"What? Already?" Kankuro was surprised. It was about two weeks since Sakura and Shizune ran the operation and he expected the recovery to last much longer.

Shikamaru left some bills on the table and stood up. "Yeah. He hates hospitals and he's doing fine enough to be released into a home treatment. He's not allowed to get back to work yet, but he's allowed to start moving around a bit. But this also means that somebody has to keep an eye on him." He turned to Kankuro and looked him straight in the eyes. "If you can't get some sense into your brother's head, then it would be probably better to get his things moved back to barracks, so we can help him. If you know what I mean."

The Kazekage's brother took a deep breath before replying, "Look, I can't guarantee he would be even willing to talk to me. But I'll try, okay man? I'll try." He stood there and watched the other man going away, before he turned and returned to Gaara's office. This was going to be a long talk, but he had to try at least and get the point across.

***

Lee was sneaking along the street or, at least, tried to sneak as well as a completely bandaged person could sneak. That meant surprisingly well, albeit uncomfortably. The cast around his chest was chaffing and the wound on his back was itching badly, but he knew he shouldn't touch it. He did have enough patience when it came to wounds, especially after the talk Tsunade-sama gave him all those years ago, when she caught him picking on scabs on his left arm.

The man grinned. He ran from the hospital, so what. He was supposed to be discharged today, after all, so he could as well discharge himself a little bit earlier and get under the radar for a while.

His friends were definitely caring, but they were treating him like a deathly-sick most of the time, except for Shikamaru. And except for Gaara.

The shinobi with the pineapple-shaped ponytail spent hours playing the shogi with him, bringing him news from both Konoha and Suna shinobi, or lazed around with him in the hospital garden.

Lee learned quickly that Shikamaru's favorite pastime, the cloud-gazing, was a lot like the meditation and sometimes they spent a whole afternoon simply looking up silently, with Shika lighting a cigarette from time to time.

Ino was very sweet, always bringing fresh flowers and the newest gossip and jokes, but when she thought he wasn't looking, her eyes started to tear up.

Chouji brought him fresh fruit and was sneaking him snacks behind the nurses' backs.

Lee usually did not agree with junk food, but he had to admit, that they were much tastier than the bland hospital diet. He had a wound in his back, not in his stomach, after all.

Temari and Kankuro also stopped to see him from time to time, both looking very exhausted. The date of signature of the treaty with the Grass village was coming close and a lot of preparations had to be done, so they could not stay for long.

The Konoha shinobi was secretly glad for it. Sure, he liked both of them, but there was some strange awkwardness between them now.

A look of guilt and regret would fleet across Temari's face.

Or Kankuro would make an awkward pause in telling a story.

And both of them were avoiding talking about Gaara. The one time Lee asked about the Kazekage himself, Temari laughed uncomfortably and pulled the oh-look-it's-so-late trick.

And Gaara himself simply never came.

Well, if Kami-sama would not come to the mountain, the mountain has to go to Kami-sama, of course.

And so Lee sneaked out of his bed after his final check-up in the morning, knowing that nobody would disturb him until lunch. He knew that if he stayed there and waited for his friends to pick him up, they would fuss around him, maybe even put him in a wheelchair, and take him home and would not let him out. Well, he had slightly different plans, even though he looked more like a mummy.

He pulled on his clothes clumsily, what with his left arm bandaged from the fingertips up to his shoulder, the cast around his torso and his right knee and ankle bound tightly, picked the cane a nurse left in the corner for him yesterday and left the hospital building stealthily.

He might not be fit enough to be a ninja anymore, but he was still trained as one and sneaking around required careful movements anyhow and so he didn't consider it a strenuous activity. Sakura said he could do civilian-level and walking definitely was a civilian-level thing, if you thought about it. Lee paused for a while, thinking about how living in the Sabaku house changed his viewpoint on some things.

Yes, Kankuro's attitude was definitely rubbing off on him.

The bandaged man continued up the stairs, waving at the ninja walking around him busily, and greeting cheerfully those he usually worked with. Soon he was by the antechambers and now he only had to get past the older Sabaku brother. He relied on Kankuro's exhaustion to help mask his chakra, because he would not be able to hide his signature anyhow. Lee limped into a cabinet full of office supplies, left the door opened a crack and settled to wait. All too soon he heard familiar footsteps leaving the room, heading in the direction of the exit.

Good. Kankuro probably went to get something to eat.

But Lee definitely did not expect what happened next.

Light footsteps came running and slightly winded female voice yelled, "Kankuro, have you seen Lee?"

The man in question cringed. So his escape was noticed already, huh?

The puppeteer's deep voice sounded exhausted. "No. Wasn't he supposed to be discharged today?"

Ino's words had a shrill timbre. "Yes. But his room was empty when we came to pick him up and he's not at the hospital at all. Shikamaru ran a search with his shadow technique, but he was probably too far from the building already."

Kankuro sounded slightly alarmed now. "Have you tried asking people?"

Ino huffed, "Yeah, but try asking about a bandaged man around a hospital!"

Lee grinned. This was going to be better than he thought. Now he only needed the puppeteer to be too exhausted to think straight and forget about feeling for Lee's chakra.

"Oh, right. Damn it." The man sighed. He was silent for a while, then continued, "Okay. Here's what we do. Get Temari and inform her, but don't tell Gaara. The five of us should be able to find him sooner or later, so there's no need to raise an alarm yet. We'll know more soon – perhaps he simply had enough of the hospital already and went ahead. Have you checked at our place already?" His voice grew more and more distant, as they probably walked away to look for Lee.

The hidden shinobi chuckled. He did not expect this, but it was definitely a good way to get Kankuro out of his way to be able to talk to Gaara finally. He had no idea what happened since the fight near the Rabbit Oasis, but he was going to find out and he was going to find out now. Lee wasn't that straightforward when it came to the interpersonal relationships usually, but this was concerning him a lot.

He stepped out of the closet and walked up to the Kazekage's door. He opened it without knocking and went in, closing the door behind him silently. "Hello, Gaara."


	12. Chapter 12

Yes, I so used Joker's line for Kankuro in the last chapter. I mean, he wears all that kabuki paint and his great childhood slightly damaged him, so I simply could not resist.

Kankuro – damaged? Yeah. In this fic he's the one overtly friendly and reckless but coldly calculating under the grinning surface.

***

The red-haired head whipped up from the papers and Gaara's eyes widened at the greeting.

Lee walked to his table full of papers and sat down in an armchair, straightening his leg. "Trying to bury yourself in the paperwork again?"

The Kazekage did not answer him, only followed his movements.

The bandaged man frowned a bit, when he saw how worn-out and tired Gaara looked. But he had something else to sort out at first. "Tell me, Gaara, why hadn't you come to see me in the hospital?" His voice was soft and mellow, but he knew he was not able to hide his hurt completely. And he also knew that the man in front of him was able to see that too.

The former Jinchuuriki was silent for a long while, averting his gaze to the papers, closing his eyes eventually. "I thought you wouldn't want to see me." His voice was slightly hoarse.

Lee felt his jaw going slack. It was his turn to gape at Gaara, as he tried to wrap his mind around the answer. "And how did you arrive at that conclusion?"

There was a long silence after this question.

The black-haired shinobi prompted the Kazekage again after a while. "Gaara? Why did you think that?"

Finally the red-haired man sighed. "I hurt you, didn't I? I mean then. And now you got hurt because of me again and this time your dream is gone. It's all my fault."

Lee groaned and smacked his face. "Baka tanuki!" Now, this was really stupid, but it made sense in Gaara's A-to-B style of thinking. He opened his eyes and looked at the other man through his fingers. "So?"

Incredulous glance was his answer before Gaara diverted his eyes again.

He frowned deeper. "Gaara, look at me."

Nothing.

"Gaara, just look at me."

More silence.

The taijutsu user sighed. "Okay, don't look at me, but listen. It's. Not. Your. Fault." He paused, just in a case the other wanted to say something, but continued uninterrupted after a while. "Really. I'm a shinobi. Or, okay, I used to be a shinobi – still have to get used to this one."

Gaara scowled. It looked like the Kazekage attempted to hide in his own robes like a tortoise.

Lee chuckled a bit. "Oh, come on. Whatever I am now, I was trained to become a ninja since I was six. Just like Temari, Kankuro, Ino and many others. We are raised to be killers and to give up our lives for the sake of our village. I used to think that the only way to serve my village was to fight and possibly die in a battle, until you showed me with your, ehm, diplomatic training, that there were many ways in which one can help a group. Even such a militaristic group as a hidden village surely is.

The Kazekage blushed a bit, but still kept his eyes stubbornly on the table. Probably found an interesting brush or something.

The black-haired man continued. "I don't care about the chuunin exam. Yes, there were consequences, but I already had a handicap to work around, so having two wasn't much different."

For the first time since Lee entered his office Gaara looked at him.

The other man noticed the slightly raised eyebrow and answered the unspoken question. "No chakra-using abilities, remember? The Lotus techniques were the only ones I was able to perform, and only after an extensive training at that."

The Kazekage grimaced sourly at the mention of the technique that damaged Lee's body.

The taijutsu user didn't see that or chose to ignore it and went on. "I still wonder why they let me graduate from the Academy at all. I think that if Gai-sensei would not offer to train me, I would not ever be allowed to become a genin. But back to the topic. The injuries you gave me then showed me that I should not take anything for granted. I've learned that sometimes it is really needed to risk and sometimes you can lose everything you have not because you were that bad, but because somebody was better."

"I wasn't better," Gaara opposed. "I was trying to kill you. I was a monster."

Lee rolled his eyes openly. He used to see this gesture around him a lot and now he wondered for a second, if he had the same effect on people around him as the Kazekage now had on him. "No, you weren't and you aren't. Yes, you were behaving like one, but after a lifetime of being treated like you were, anybody would snap."

Gaara opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted again.

"And yes, I know that those Grass missing-nin came after you because you killed those two chuunin of theirs in Konoha. Shikamaru told me."

The Kazekage closed his mouth with a snap.

Lee went on. "But Kankuro also told me that they wanted you to lose the match and tried to threaten you. If they were stupid enough to try that, despite you being the host of Shukkaku and all, they deserved to carry the consequences."

Gaara stared at him now with wide incredulous eyes. He certainly had not expected this. He thought that Lee would shun him or refuse to talk to him, not march up to him and tell him that everything's okay, give or take few bodies.

The black-haired man took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before continuing, blushing lightly but not taking his eyes off Gaara. "You know that the Lotus techniques are possibly fatal for the user and that's why Gai-sensei made me promise to use them only under one circumstance."

Gaara frowned a bit, recalling Sakura's words from the day of the operation. He murmured along with Lee, "To protect your precious person…"

The taijutsu master cleared his throat. "Yes. You know, I much prefer to stay amongst the living, but I would gladly give up my life if it meant I could protect you." He closed his eyes for a while, then opened them again and grinned at the Kazekage. "Now, you're alive and I'm alive and so I would call this a win-win situation."

Gaara's mind was still running in circles around one concept though. "So," he hesitated briefly. "I am your precious person?"

Lee blushed more but nodded. "Yes. You are." He looked at him hopefully.

Gaara just sat on his chair and stared at him numbly.

The wounded man's face turned even deeper shade of red and he averted his gaze eventually. "I see…" His voice trailed off and he made a motion to stand up.

The Kazekage was by his side immediately in a flurry of robes. "Stay. Please." The words were whispered, as if telling them loudly would shatter the moment. He pressed on Lee's right, uninjured shoulder lightly to prevent him from getting up.

The black-haired fighter looked up to him, their looks connecting for a long moment.

Then Gaara leaned down, pressing his lips to Lee's for a brief moment. He pulled back and looked at the injured shinobi, his look saying that if the other wanted to protest, now was the time. Instead he found a warm hand sneaking around his waist and pulling him closer to the sitting man.

Their lips connected again.

Lee reveled in the kiss. Gaara's lips were dry and slightly chapped, but felt oh so good against his. He tilted his head to a side a bit and opened his mouth slightly, licking Gaara's lips.

The Kazekage's mouth pressed to his roughly and demandingly, his tongue gaining entrance into the other's mouth, exploring and savoring the taste.

They kissed fiercely for a while, letting their hands wander over the other's body, touching, learning, enjoying.

Lee's hand sneaked under Gaara's robes, gliding over his chest, touching the former Jinchuuriki through his mesh undergarment, then undoing the hidden clasps one by one. Soon he pushed the heavy clothes off the Kazekage's shoulders, exposing the red-head's body, leaving him only in his pants.

Gaara hissed when Lee's fingers pinched his nipple and started to plant open-mouthed kisses down the black-haired man's jaw, pausing to bite his earlobe lightly and continuing down his throat, while his hands were busy undressing the man under him. He paused only to pull Lee's shirt off over his head, returning his lips to worshipping the tanned body immediately. He grazed his teeth over Lee's exposed shoulder, making the taijutsu fighter arch into his body and hiss slightly.

Lee felt like he had a fever. Gaara's hands and mouth were setting his skin on fire, leaving it hypersensitive. This wasn't the first time he was dealing with sex, all the shinobi experimented early on, but it was definitely the first time somebody had this effect on him. Of course, he would not call any of his previous partners a precious person.

The black haired man raked his nails down Gaara's mesh-covered back, causing the other to moan into his skin, then moved his hand to the Kazekage's stomach, hooked his fingers into the netting and pulled the other man closer. This was unfair. Lee could use only one hand, while Gaara had two to tease all his hidden spots and make him gasp for air. The sitting man reached for the red hair that was teasing his chin at the moment, grabbed a handful and pulled, getting the access to Gaara's neck.

The red-head moaned and turned his head to kiss him properly again, sneaking his hands over the bandages down to Lee's uncovered belly and the waistline of his pants, teasing with his fingers along the edge.

The taijutsu user sucked a deep breath at the contact, letting his head fall back on the backrest of the armchair and letting Gaara do whatever he pleased.

The Kazekage licked his way down Lee's neck to his shoulder, then moved over and settled between the other's legs, unbuttoning his pants slowly. He teased with his tongue across the muscled belly, leaving a wet trail and marveling in the way the muscles twitched at the slightest touch. Finally he pulled Lee's pants down just enough to reach his cock.

He pulled out the hardened flesh and stroked it in soft slow movements, nipping at the quivering muscles of Lee's stomach. Gaara looked up, meeting the fighter's heavy-lidded gaze and enjoying the look of pure want and lust on the other's face, before he moved his head and licked Lee's erection from his balls up to the tip.

The taijutsu master closed his eyes and arched off the armchair, gripping the armrest with his good hand. Gaara's tongue and mouth felt simply amazing on his straining cock making him wish for more.

The Kazekage licked and nipped at the strong and slender shaft, pumping his hand up and down over the hot flesh now slick with his saliva, his other hand gripping Lee's thigh. He paused to take the head of the cock into his mouth and sucked slightly.

Lee mewled wantonly as he felt the wet heat engulfing his tip and looked down, only to groan again when he saw his dick disappearing in Gaara's mouth. "Oh fuck!" He squirmed under the caress, trying to lift his hips.

The red-haired man moved his hand from Lee's thigh to his hip, holding him down and preventing him from moving. While he liked his lover's reaction, he didn't want him to strain anything or overexert himself. He started to bob his head over the cock in his mouth, caressing the tip with languid swirls of his tongue while taking in as much as he could and moving his other hand to caress Lee's balls instead. The taijutsu master was as vocal as Gaara imagined him to be when he gave him that massage, and the Kazekage was drinking all the sounds from the other, reveling in the knowledge that it was him who caused this, that it was his mouth and his hands bringing Lee closer to the edge.

Lee's body tensed in just a few moments under Gaara's ministrations and he practically howled as he spilled his seed into the red-head's throat.

The leader of Suna choked slightly, but soon he stretched over Lee's body, supporting himself on the armrests and kissing the other man languidly.

The black-haired fighter kissed him back, letting go of the armrest himself and allowing his hand to roam freely over Gaara's body, until he found the tent in the Kazekage's pants. He grinned into the kiss, "Give you a hand with that?"

Gaara snorted and wiped a dribble of Lee's semen from his chin. "How about you kiss it better?"

The man in the armchair roared with laughter. "That was corny, Gaara." He continued to laugh. "Ow. Damn. This is pulling on the stitches, I tell you."

"Stop laughing, then." The Kazekage was still hovering over Lee, looking smug. "But you could do it, you know?"

Lee wiped the tears of laughter and pain from his eyes and nodded. "Okay. But you have to get up here and do most of it yourself anyhow. I'm not exactly flexible at this moment."

The red-head grinned and kissed him one more time, before he moved so that he was kneeling over Lee with his knees on the armrests. "That's not a problem." He untied the string in the waist of his pants and let them fall down to his knees, exposing himself to the sitting man.

Lee combed Gaara's red curls with his fingers, letting his fingertips tease the hardened flesh that was demanding his attention, before he leaned forward a bit, taking the tip of the Kazekage's cock in his mouth at once.

Gaara's breath hitched and he had to grip the backrest of the armchair to keep himself from falling off at the sudden assault of sensations.

Lee's mouth was hot, slick on his shaft, and just perfect, while his fingers ghosted over Gaara's balls, caressing, teasing and never applying as much pressure as the red-head would want.

The taijutsu master sneaked his hand between the Kazekage's legs and gripped his ass. He pushed lightly, giving the man kneeling above him the rhythm to follow.

Gaara's hips complied on their own, without him even registering it at first, still lost at the paradise that was Lee's mouth, until he looked down and realized that he was moving himself in and out of that moist and warm cavern.

Lee grabbed his buttock stronger, winding his arm around his thigh, gaining enough leverage to stop Gaara's movement and hold him in place, as he took in more and more of the Kazekage's erection, until his nose pressed into the fire-red pubes.

Gaara did not dare to move, his muscles trembling and his chest heaving. This was unbelievable. Not even an hour ago he was firmly convinced that he would probably never see this man again, yet here they were, with him buried up to the hilt in the other's mouth, getting probably the best oral sex of his life.

And then Lee started to hum around the shaft lodged in his throat.

Gaara shouted wordlessly at the sensation, the vibrations of Lee's vocal cords having an unbelievable effect on him. He felt himself getting close and he groaned.

When Lee shifted his hand just so and reached into the red-head's cleft to tease the hidden hole, it was a sweet torture.

It was all Gaara could do to move in shallow thrusts only, still deep in Lee's resonating throat, not to choke this amazing man.

And then Lee swallowed. And again. And again. And he was still fingering Gaara's opening.

Within few seconds the Kazekage shouted again and spurted his load.

This forced Lee to swallow again on reflex.

Gaara's eyes rolled in his head from the added stimulation and he caught himself at the last moment, not to fall on the still healing man. He withdrew himself slowly from the other's mouth, kneeling back between his legs and resting his head on Lee's stomach, panting.

Dressing could wait. Talking could wait. Work could definitely wait.

He wanted to rest now and he wanted to be close to his precious person. That was right.

Lee was his precious person.

The red-head drew up his pants still kneeling, then turned slightly to kiss the other's skin, feeling the resonation of his chuckles and the hand that was combing through his hair lightly, making him relax.

Both men were falling asleep when an urgent knock rattled the door.

Gaara frowned and groaned aloud, "Go away!"

Kankuro shouted from the other side of the massive wood, "Gaara, Lee's lost!" He burst through the door continuing, "He's gone…" His voice trailed off.

Lee replied a bit smugly, "No, he's not." He looked completely at ease and he didn't even stop to stroke the red hair of his lover.

The puppeteer gaped at the sight before him.

The lost man everybody was looking for sat in the armchair in front of the Kazekage's table, his hair mussed, his lips bruised and several bite marks showing on his bare shoulders. Lee sat there without a shirt, his chest covered by the cast, looking as calm and collected as if he would be at a council meeting.

Gaara was kneeling between his legs, his robes discarded and red welts showing on his back, nuzzling Lee's stomach tenderly like an overgrown cat.

Suddenly piercing jade glare snapped Kankuro back to reality.

Gaara spoke in a low and dangerous tone. "When I tell you to go away, you stay away. Now, go and close the door. From the other side."

Lee patted his head as if he was petting a dog and chuckled.

Kankuro walked out the door and closed it carefully behind him. He walked down the corridors and stairs to the rest of the searching party that waited for him at the main entrance of the Kazekage tower.

"What did Gaara say?"

"Did he know already?"

"Where are we going to look now?"

"What should we do?"

The questions from his sister and their friends got through the numbness the puppeteer felt and he responded in a low monotonous voice. "Gaara found Lee first. I don't know how about you, but I'm gonna call it a day and get drunk. Really really really drunk."

Temari looked at him closer, "Hey, you look like you've seen a ghost…"

He patted her shoulder absentmindedly. "Something like that, Tem. Something like that."

Ino and Temari left for a lunch with Chouji, leaving Kankuro and Shikamaru standing in front of the Kazekage's tower.

The puppeteer shuddered. He was fairly sure what happened at his bother's office and what was probably going to happen. He really did not need to see this. He started to walk in the direction of his favorite bar.

Shikamaru fell in step on his side and threw away a cigarette butt before lighting another. "So, Gaara found Lee, hm?" he asked, with just a slight emphasis on the verb.

Kankuro flinched. This was going to be a long night, or afternoon, or whatever, and he doubted that there was enough alcohol in the whole village for his purposes. Then his lips twitched in a slightly sadistic smile. Who said he had to suffer alone?

He draped an arm around Shikamaru's shoulders. "Why don't I tell you about it?"

The strategist expert groaned. "Why do I feel this is going to be really troublesome?"

The masked fighter grinned, "You have no idea."


	13. Chapter 13

_O-kay, guys. I kept you hanging for long enough – unfortunately, there is an awful lot going on at the moment, including but not limited to: possibility of losing job, deciding if I will have to undergo a surgery, some personal trouble and harsh allergy._

_But I'm not forgetting you… Here's the very last part of the "Diplomacy" story and I'd like to thank all who liked it enough to drop a Fav, an Alert or a Review._

***

Lee was half-sitting in his bed. This day was simply amazing – sneaking out of the hospital, learning about Gaara's guilt eating the man from inside and then the mind-blowing change in their relationship… Well, not only _mind_-blowing, the injured man smirked.

He was tired and in pain, hobbling from the hospital to Gaara's office and all their…activities were not kind to his injuries, but he still could not fall asleep. His nerves were overexcited, both from the steamy scene with Gaara and overexerting himself, and also from his own little plan he started to execute on the side.

Lee sighed and tried to find a better position and closed his eyes, trying to will himself into the land of dreams.

Nearly silent footsteps approached his room, the door creaked and somebody stepped in. The smell was familiar for Lee enough to recognize the person.

His eyes closed, he smiled into the darkness, "Can't sleep?"

"Can't sleep," confirmed Gaara softly and slid under the covers next to the black-haired man, nuzzling his shoulder lightly.

Lee hummed wordlessly, still keeping his eyes closed, looping his right arm around Gaara and dragging the red-head closer. He felt the red hair tickling his chin and soon he stroked the Kazekage's back just like he would pet a cat.

Gaara was all but purring contentedly, before he started to chuckle.

"What?" Lee's hand paused on his back.

The sand user shook his hand, but continued to laugh lightly.

"What?" The black-haired man poked him in the ribs to emphasize his question.

"I just recalled Kankuro's face…" Gaara's voice trailed off and he started to laugh again.

Lee could not help himself and joined him. "Ou… Ouch!" He was panting soon, because his broken ribs definitely did not like this. Still, he could not stop laughing. "I wonder where he went actually. I haven't seen him the whole afternoon."

The Kazekage calmed a bit. "Apparently he told the rest of the impromptu search party that everything's okay and that he's going to get drunk. Temari saw him later totally smashed and Shikamaru did not look much better."

The wounded man let his head fall back on the pillow and groaned. "Okay, so better start thinking on some official statement."

Inquiring jade eyes were boring into him. "Why?"

Lee resumed stroking his lover. "Because he's definitely gonna tell Shika. And Shika will tell Ino, because she knows how to get under his skin and I swear she used the mind-possession jutsu on him a few times to find out stuff."

Gaara snuggled close again. "So?"

"And if Ino knows, then everybody knows," Lee was getting annoyed a bit about this. "I swear, she would be the most useful in the T&I but Ibiki-san never asked her to join. I guess it's because she can't keep a secret for more than a day."

The smaller man propped himself on one elbow and looked at his lover. "You do not wish to make our relation public?"

Lee sighed and pulled himself a bit higher, now sitting fully against the headboard. This is going to be a tough one. "It is not that I have something against it. I mean what I said, you are my precious person and that is that, Gaara. But you're the Kazekage. Don't you think that the Daimyo will use this against you and the whole Sunagakure? What then?" He ran his good hand through his hair, to keep the black mane out of his eyes and chuckled a bit. "Besides, getting used to being so close with you in private would have been nice. I did not expect to have to look out for your rabid fangirls so early."

Gaara continued to look up at him from his position on the bed and ran his hand along Lee's left thigh. "I could…talk to Ino…" he offered, before letting his head rest where his hand was just a moment ago. He could see this was really troubling for his lover and he understood why. He should worry about the consequences too, but somehow he could not bring himself to think about politics now, that he had the black-haired fighter so close and was finally allowed to touch him.

"No, that would not help anything. That's just the way she is. Now that I think about it, she hasn't participated in any undercover mission either. She's a great fighter and that mind-reading jutsu is damn useful, but she would rat herself out within five minutes from the start…" Lee sighed again.

The red-haired shinobi nuzzled his thigh again and murmured in a sleepy voice, "Stop worrying so much. So they will know and what? It's not like they wanted me to have children at the first place – I'm considered to be too unstable to be allowed to procreate. I'm a monster, remember?" He bit the skin close to his mouth lightly and earned himself a slap between his shoulders. The Kazekage let go and continued, "And if they cause problems because they don't want the Kazekage to have a relationship with a man, then I will resign."

A hand in his hair pulled his head back and made him face the concerned look on Lee's face. The big black eyes looked even rounder than usually, but the frown created a deep crease between the prominent eyebrows. "Gaara…"

He reached out to smooth the wrinkle on his lover's forehead. "You worry too much, Lee. Can't you just lay all this aside for tonight? I'm sure we'll have enough to deal with tomorrow. Besides, even though Temari would hate me for shifting all this on her, she would be a wonderful Rokudaime Kazekage. Don't you think?" He chuckled evilly. "And the council simply loves her…"

"You're right, oh the magnificent one." Lee sighed and slid back deeper under the cover and snuggling to his lover as much as his bandages would allow. "Let's sleep now," he yawned. "I hope that the morning, with its springtime of youth, would handle everything."

***

Several weeks passed and their relationship was accepted without much ado. Only the Elder Jouseki tried to protest the Kazekage having a male lover, but he was promptly shushed when Gaara offered to step down and give the powers over to his sister.

Believed monster or not, the youngest Sabaku was still easier to deal with than the harsh kunoichi.

Aside from couple of stares, the two young men had not experienced any negative reactions, even though Kankuro assured them that Gaara's fanclub was crying bitter tears somewhere in a corner.

What surprised them all though was Ino implying that Lee had a fanclub on his own and that they were much more dangerous – because their motto was never to give up.

Gaara sighed and leaned back against the wall.

Today Lee's cast would come off and depending on the results Sekka might even let him get back to work. That would be good – bored Lee was dangerous Lee.

As Gaara learned hands first over the few weeks.

The black haired man could not move much, but what he could do with his fingers and his mouth simply left the Kazekage in a breathless heap on his bed, mewling in pleasure.

The red-head smirked. Of course that as soon as he recovered, he gave Lee back as good as he got, but still, they had to be careful not to strain all the healing tissue. Gaara had to apply his iron will from time to time, because he did not want to take Lee if it might have caused him pain.

The other way around was practically impossible because it would put too much strain on Lee's damaged right leg, no matter how they tried to work around this. The one time they tried they had to stop immediately and Lee's knee was swollen for three more days afterwards.

Finally the door opened and his lover walked out, the medic nin following him.

Sekka gave Lee some papers and shook his hand, congratulating him on healing properly, then he turned to the Kazekage, "Well, Kazekage-sama, Lee-san is definitely making a good progress. I am telling you, because I need to be sure that he will follow the directions though. I do not want to have to explain this to him in Tenten-san's style, like after that sunburn."

Gaara peeled off the wall and nodded, folding his hands on his chest.

The medic continued, "First of all, Lee-san needs to take everything slowly. His muscles were very badly damaged and then he was in forced inactivity for more than one month. He should move every day a bit, walking will be good. Also, after a week of getting used to all the changes in his body, he can start with the basic stretching patterns. Absolutely no speed or force training unless I personally clear him. At this stage it still could reverse all the job Sakura-san has done and this time not even her or the Hokage would be able to save him."

The Kazekage nodded, grunting "I'll see to it."

Sekka chuckled. "I am sure. That's why I am telling you. I gave Lee-san an ointment that will help the circulation in his muscles. He should rub it in every evening and let it soak in over the night. It will also help to soothe any strains from the normal activity the muscles are no longer used to. And I'll see him in two weeks for another check-up."

Gaara nodded again, to acknowledge all those facts

The older man nodded too and turned to leave, but then looked back over his shoulder, "And absolutely no strenuous activity for at least next three days, if you get what I mean."

Both men groaned at hearing this and turned to leave the hospital.

Lee limped on silent Gaara's side, plucking at his clothes and scratching on his chest with his finally free left hand. "This is disgusting."

"Hm?" Gaara rose from whatever thoughts he had and looked at the man, not understanding.

The black haired fighter chuckled. "I itch all over. I mean, how long was I in that cast? Five or six weeks? I would really like to go and soak in the hot springs at the moment, but I'd have to go and grab a spare of clothes."

He plucked on his clothes again, wrinkled his nose in disgust and sighed. "Too much walking, so I guess it's the shower today."

Lee did not even manage to complete the sentence, when the familiar feeling of side-along transportation jutsu spun his head. When his vision cleared again, he found himself in his own room, which he now shared with Gaara.

The red-head claimed that his own room had too much bad memories and that he liked Lee's better anyhow.

The former shinobi stood leaning on his cane and watched his lover in amusement.

The Kazekage walked briskly around the room in a flurry of robes and retrieved several items.

Lee recognized his favorite pair of slacks, a white-and-black long-sleeved shirt made from light cotton and the bottle of massage oil. He raised an eyebrow at that.

Gaara stopped and pulled his robes over his head, then digging in Lee's wardrobe for something he could wear. He found a deep green shirt he actually liked, pulled it on and grabbed the items off the bed. "For the massage," he answered Lee's silent question.

The black-haired man snorted. "Right. Massage."

His chuckle was the last thing heard in the room before the smoke of transportation jutsu spun them away.

***

Lee sighed contentedly.

Gaara transported them right in front of the onsen and they got his private pool again. The Kazekage helped his lover this time around, giving him a good scrub, and helping him into the hot water.

This was pure bliss. The healing shinobi had not realized how much he missed being able to soak in hot water until he was sitting chin-deep in the pool, every muscle zinging with pleasure. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to nod off for a while.

The red-haired man prodded him awake after several minutes and ordered him on the same bench where Lee gave him the massage before. But this time the Kazekage oiled his skin and then scraped away all the dead layers gently, all over his body.

This was definitely heaven. Getting rid of the bothersome cast and now being so thoroughly cleaned by somebody so close to his heart was so great that it simply switched his mind off.

Gaara helped him up and back into the washing room, to get rid of the remaining bits of oil, not to soil the pool with it, then he let his lover to lean on him again, as they went back to the pool for a good and thorough soak.

Now they were back in his room, Gaara transporting them again, to spare Lee the strain.

The black-haired man was thankful for this – because after the much needed relax in the onsen his legs turned into mush and he was not sure if he could make it from the baths to the Sabaku house without falling asleep somewhere along the way. He was lazing in his bed now, half asleep, waiting for Gaara to join him.

It didn't take long for the red-haired man to sneak under the covers and start planting small kisses across Lee's chest, teasing the nipples with fast and short licks of his tongue.

The taller man wriggled under his ministrations. "Gaara, you heard the doctor. No strenuous activity for at least three days…" His voice was breathless, small moans punctuating his words now and then.

The Kazekage bit slightly on the nipple in his mouth while he let his fingers dance over Lee's hips. "Let me do all the work then." He continued to kiss his way steadily downwards, stopping to lick at the still-defined muscles under his lips from time to time. "I was waiting so long to do this and now the cast is finally off…" He dipped his tongue into the belly button and then bit the soft skin near to it. "Let me…" He knew his voice was low and needy, but he did need this. He needed his lover.

Lee groaned. Gaara's attention was leaving a trail of fire across his skin, which was hypersensitive after being protected from all contact for so long. Everything felt so much more intense, Gaara's lips, Gaara's slick tongue or the brush of his silky hair. He moaned again. "Alright. But if I say so, you'll stop immediately."

"Of course." The red-head busied himself with kissing along his groin, then sliding even lower and turning his attention to Lee's right ankle instead.

The dark-haired shinobi sucked a deep breath as he felt the slight scrape of Gaara's teeth around his ankle and the hot mouth slowly working its way up. "Kami, you are such a tease!"

The had found by an accident that Lee's ankles were extremely sensitive and since then Gaara simply loved to play with them, only to enjoy the sounds Lee made. But today he had another goal.

He trailed slight bites along Lee's thighs, moving from one to the other and back, until he arrived at his groin again. He licked at his lover's fully hard shaft before taking the tip into his mouth and laving at it with the flat of his tongue.

Lee arched off the bed, moaning at the now familiar but still amazing feeling of Gaara's mouth around him, trailing his fingers in the red hair. He used his left hand this time, still reveling in the amazingly heightened sense of touch on the uncovered skin.

The Kazekage bobbed his head up and down several times, adding his hand to cover the rest of Lee's shaft, still circling the tip of the long and slender cock in his mouth. He paused briefly to reach for the bottle of oil on the nightstand and covered both his palms with it, then he leaned back and took Lee's member in his mouth again, one hand sliding around the base of the hard organ easily, the other trailing lower, stopping to play with the sack of balls, before it reached behind them and found the puckered entrance.

Lee mewled wantonly, sweat starting to appear on his skin, as he writhed under Gaara's ministration. His right hand was clutched in the pillow, his legs falling wide open to give his lover better access for what he knew was coming.

Soon enough Gaara eased two fingers into Lee's hole. The Kazekage had long and slender fingers and they did this often enough by now to know what he could afford with Lee and what was out of the limit. Apparently, slow teasing was one of the off-limit things.

He moved his fingers in and out his lover's toned body in the same rhythm as he sucked on his dick, enjoying each of the sighs and moans he got out of the man beneath him, knowing that it was him, Gaara, who caused the healing but still powerful man groan in pleasure and ask for more.

He added a third finger soon enough, massaging along the inner walls until he found what he was looking for. He teased over Lee's prostate with light strokes while sucking on his cock, knowing that it would not take much to push his lover over the edge. Not now, not like this.

Lee opened his eyes and took in the image of his pale lover kneeling over him and looking up to him with his cock deep in between those lips.

The black-haired man struggled to keep his eyes open as his senses went into the overdrive, both from physical and visual stimulation, the tight coil in his belly snapping undone, sending his seed down the Kazekage's throat.

He flopped back on the bed, trying to catch his breath, convinced that this time he did see the stars, only to realize that Gaara had yet to remove his fingers from his ass.

The red-head continued his languid pace for a while, moving his hand under Lee's balls, stretching him unhurriedly, before he removed his fingers only to push slightly on his lover's hip, showing him to turn on his belly.

Lee complied, bunching a big pillow under his chest and stomach for support and bent his left leg, leaving the right one straight.

Gaara sat on his heels for a short moment, admiring his lover, not daring to touch just yet, just in a case this was a dream.

The taijutsu user was spread across the bed in a nearly boneless fashion, the slight sheen of sweat on his skin glistening in the last rays of the afternoon sun and he looked more like a deity from another world than a mere human. His long dark mane draped over the pillow left under his head with few strands sticking to his shoulders, his black eyes sending the Kazekage a smoldering look and the muscles still showing under his skin, velvety smooth from the bath, despite the forced inactivity, all this created a very inviting scene.

Gaara did not want to hold back any longer. He kneeled behind Lee, stretching over his body and tasting the skin on his lover's shoulders, kissing and licking again, savoring the feel under his lips. It was great to be able to finally touch all of his lover's body and he definitely used the opportunity to do so.

One of his hands found the globes of Lee's ass again, massaging one pert muscle, then the other, before dipping into the valley between them and finding his opening again, just teasing around.

Lee let his head fall on the pillow and closed his eyes, losing himself in Gaara's touches and caresses. He knew that this was probably going to be too much and he'll be sore all over afterwards, but just like his red-haired lover, he couldn't wait anymore. He groaned, the low sound more reverberating through his body than really leaving his lips.

The sand user reached for the oil again, this time slathering his straining erection. He gripped Lee's good shoulder with one hand, guiding himself into his lover's body slowly. As the tip of his rather thick cock eased behind the constricting ring of muscles, he could not help but moan himself quite loudly.

He had lovers before, but nobody felt as perfect around him as the black-haired fighter. He leaned over Lee's back again, propping himself up on his elbows on either side of his heaving body and continued to sheathe himself in the tight accepting heat of his lover, trailing soft kisses and occasional bites across the firm shoulders under him.

Lee would love to turn and kiss Gaara properly, but the pull in the muscles around his spine told him it was not a good idea.

The lithe red-head felt so good inside him, stretching him and filling him completely in a slow and steady motion, halting only when he was fully sheathed.

The black-haired man moaned, neglecting the slight burning pain of his stretched entrance and marveling in the feeling of his lover withdrawing slowly and then entering him again with a slow but steady undulation of his hips. Lee felt his own erection getting back to life promptly and the soft friction against the sheets felt really good.

It was amazing what Gaara could do to his body.

He knew that the young Kazekage was by no means inexperienced virgin but his lover still surprised him by playing his body so perfectly.

Lee gritted his teeth as Gaara's erection pressed into his prostate firmly and swore to himself that he had to get better soon, if only to show his lover what he himself could do…

The measured caress was driving him mad.

It would be so great to feel his lover pounding into him with abandon, but he understood that his body was not up to it yet. Still, if he moved a bit like this, maybe it would help things…

Gaara continued to love him in a slow caressing way, losing himself in the body under him, when he felt Lee bucking and meeting his strokes, forcing him into a faster, harsher rhythm.

He growled and bit on the skin under his lips rather harshly, to remind the other man that he was in charge.

His lover gasped and writhed at the wordless reprimand, but didn't cease his efforts.

Suddenly the black-haired fighter felt the body above him raising, one strong hand gripping his hip, forcing him to stay still, the other materializing in between his shoulder blades, pressing him firmly but gently into the mattress.

He knew he was completely at Gaara's mercy at the moment, the sudden feeling of submission so powerful that he couldn't help but moan loudly.

The red-head's dick was still in his hole, but completely motionless.

Lee growled and tried to move, just to feel that length sliding into him again.

The Kazekage tightened his grip on his lover. "Do you want to hurt yourself?" His voice was harsh and throaty, more a growl than actual words.

The man under him all but whined, "You're killing me by this, Gaara. Just a little bit faster, please…" His words trailed off in another unsatisfied moan.

He sighed, leaning down to kiss Lee's back again. "Okay. But you will tell me if something feels wrong."

It wasn't a question, it was an order and the healing man knew it. He nodded and then gasped, unprepared for Gaara actually giving in to his needs.

It was not the reckless pounding his body wished for, but this was definitely more satisfying.

The pale man held his lover immobile and rocked into his wanting pliant body with more force than he thought was wise, but it felt oh so good. He loved those low cries of pleasure nearly every stroke forced out of the body under his hands and the tight velvety passage around his cock felt simply marvelous.

They waited so long to do this, that even though he wanted the pleasure last as long as possible, he felt he was not going to last much longer.

What caught him totally unprepared was clenching of his lover's ass around him, as he hit the sweet spot again.

Unable to stop himself he rocked hard into Lee, sheathing himself as deep as possible, once, twice, before the pleasure burned through his whole body. He heard himself shout wordlessly as he spent himself inside his lover, gripping the skin under his hands with nearly bruising force.

Lee groaned in pain as he was held in a punishing grasp. He could not help but feel a slight twinge in the pit of his stomach. Of course he was glad to give pleasure to his lover, but somehow he hoped that they would plunge over the edge together this time.

Sure, he knew that having sex for the first time with a new partner was rarely a mind-blowing affair. Even though they spent considerable amount of time learning each other's responses, this was something they hadn't done yet together and they were back to the imaginary step one, recognizing, mapping and getting used to the other again.

Still, he couldn't help the small smug smile on his face. It was good to be connected to Gaara that intimately and it was even better to know that he had such an effect on his lover.

He felt the other's member withdrawing from his body and moaned in protest. The hand on his back rubbed his skin soothingly, while the other pushed his him, indicating that he should turn on his back again.

The black-haired fighter settled on his back, the feeling of his lover's cum seeping slowly out of his hole teasing his hungry senses even more. He ogled Gaara's flushed skin, perspiration beading on his chest here and there, the Kazekage's red lips that looked positively bitten, but what drove Lee's libido even higher was the glazed satisfied look in those deep green eyes.

Stroking his painfully hard member, Lee growled, "Gaara, I need you. Now."

A predatory smirk lit those jade-colored eyes, as the pale man crawled over Lee again to claim his lips in a bruising kiss. His still oil-slicked hand swatted the tan one away and resumed stroking the taijutsu master's weeping erection, smearing the greasy liquid on his shaft as well as the precum dripping from the slit on the tip of the cock in his hand. He warned the man under him in a low tone, "Remember, do not move."

Lee's eyes fell closed during the kiss, but shot open as tight heat constricted his member suddenly. The view was gorgeous:

Gaara straddled his hips, impaling himself on the long slender cock, leaning backwards and propping himself with one hand on Lee's left thigh and the other between the taijutsu user's legs. His own pale and thick erection was still jutting into the air proudly, bending upwards so that it nearly touched his belly.

Lee moaned and arched off the bed when he saw himself disappearing into that hot pale body above him, Gaara's hole engulfing him greedily even without any preparation.

The red-head started to move, throwing his head back in pleasure. Taking Lee into his body at once was painful a bit, but with each motion the uncomfortable feeling lessened, until there was only a pure bliss left.

He rocked himself up and down, looking on the powerful man under him, marveling in the nearly helpless look on Lee's face mixed with a pure want. He shifted himself a bit and gasped as his lover's cock grazed his prostate more firmly with each stroke.

Lee was in heaven. He expected Gaara to finish him with a blow job again, but this was so much better.

The red-head's passage fit like a snug glove around him, driving him mad with each motion. The man seemed to posses the power to drive him insane with every little thing he did, with each gasp, each look and moan.

He knew he would not last much longer. "Gaara…"

The Kazekage understood. He was very close again himself, the feel of Lee's cock deep inside him was unbelievable. "Touch me."

Tanned hand wrapped around his member, sliding over the smooth skin in the same pace as he rode his lover.

It was too much for Lee. He arched himself of the bed, impaling his lover firmly, as he felt the coil in his lower belly snap and send his seed shooting out into Gaara's body.

Feeling his lover's spasming member coating his insides with cum and the nearly painful squeeze on his dick sent the red-head over the edge as well, forcing him to cover the heaving body under him with the white sticky fluid.

It was all Gaara could do not to collapse directly on the healing man. He fell sideways instead and then dragged himself close to his lover again.

Lee threw his arm around the lithe body, pulling the Kazekage close. "We should probably shower," he murmured.

Gaara shook his head. "Not right now. Can't move." The Kazekage yawned, feeling utterly spent.

Soon they drifted off to sleep, not caring about the mess they created.

***

Kankuro was going through reports from the Suna ANBU team-leaders on the efficiency of their teams. The annual time for the physical check-ups and performance tests arrived and he, as the Captain of the ANBU, had to verify each and every result. This was really troublesome, as Shikamaru used to say.

There was a commotion in the corridor and a team of three chuunin came tearing into the antechambers. A red-haired girl, though her hair was more titian than his brother's bloody red, and two brunet boys, one with glasses and the other with a spiky hairstyle that reminded Kankuro of late Asuma-sensei from Konoha. Sure enough, their hitai-ate all showed the swirl of Leaf symbol.

The puppeteer grinned, he was fond of this particular batch. They were seventeen now and skilled shinobi, having completed many missions, and they appeared in Suna regularly.

Moegi was their unofficial leader, or at least the spokesperson, being sometimes as loud as Naruto (or Lee) used to be. She followed the unspoken tradition of Konoha Eleven and got some medical training, but she was a skilled genjutsu user.

Quiet Udon with his eyes hiding behind glasses was a brilliant strategist, one to rival Nara family easily. What came as a surprise during one training with Kankuro was that he was very proficient in taijutsu as well.

And Konohamaru resembled his uncle more than anybody would expect just a few years ago. He got himself a pair of trench knives and learned to use them with the extended chakra just as Asuma used to do, only his affinity was lightning, not wind element. And thanks Kami, he did not take to smoking. He was a formidable fighter and will make a great leader one day.

The masked man stood up from his table. "Hey kids, what's up?"

Moegi grinned right back at him, ignoring Udon's scoff at being called 'kids'. "It's our turn now – you're stuck with us, old man!"

Kankuro gave a mock groan and hid his face with his hands. "Oh no, my bones are creaking and I just lost my cane! What shall I do…" He straightened again. "Any news?"

Konohamaru stepped forward, "Yup. A scroll for you, some official paperwork for the Kazekage and two scrolls for Lee."

The puppeteer raised his eyebrow. "A scroll for me? On what business?"

Udon gave an evil grin that was more Uchiha-like than Kankuro liked. "Oh, we don't know. It's private."

Moegi giggled behind her hand and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "Shikamaru".

Kankuro was glad that his kabuki paint covered any blush.

Fortunately, the cavalry arrived at that moment.

Lee and Gaara returned from a meeting with the Kusa ambassador, discussing the progress on their way.

Udon smiled brightly, "Lee-san!"

"Hello, Udon!" Lee's smile was as blinding as ever. "Is it your turn now?"

"Yes! Will you train with me again?" Udon's voice was almost reverent.

Gaara growled from behind, "He'll coach you."

"Okay." Anything was good with Udon, just as long as he could learn more from the taijutsu master. He passed two scrolls to the older shinobi. "For you from the Hokage-sama."

"Thank you." Lee broke the seal on the first one and read it, frowning slightly. "So it's official."

Kankuro was puzzled a bit, "What is?"

Lee passed him the scroll and broke the seal on the other one.

The puppeteer unwound the piece of parchment, reading aloud, "By the power invested in me, I hereby declare Rock Lee, jounin, unfit for further service as a shinobi due to physical reasons. Rock Lee is hereby retired and a standard retirement allowance will be sent to his account each month in addition to any other income he may procure. Signed, Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage." He looked up, only to find the man in question grinning.

The now retired shinobi was feeling victorious. His plan worked. He didn't even want to tell Gaara about it beforehand, not to make him feel disappointed, but it came out exactly as he suggested. "Listen!" He started to read aloud from the scroll in his hand, "Due to the increasing cooperation with the Sunagakure, we require a permanent ambassador to be stationed in Suna. Because of his personal bonds and knowledge of the village, Rock Lee is hereby appointed to act as the first permanent Konohan Ambassador in the Sunagakure for an indefinite period of time, starting immediately upon receiving this order. Signed, Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage."

Gaara gaped a bit at his grinning lover. The sneaky bastard. But it was clear that Lee's diplomatic training was now truly successful – he managed to get his village approve his permanent stay in Konoha with the Kazekage and even get some pay for it.

The young shinobi cheered loudly for their older friend, praising the Hokage.

Only Kankuro muttered darkly, "You better get yourself thicker walls now, Gaara."

***

_For those who have this on Story Alert: There is another piece coming (in fact I'm going to post it within few hours) with Ibiki/Iruka pairing. Some more things that are currently being written include Genma and Tenzo, Izumo and Kotetsu, Sakura with about anyone (so she's my favorite female character) and some slash and crossovers too… As I said, stay tuned ;-)_


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